Walkman
by Chirakka
Summary: RaineOCis the daughter of legends. Her mother was the Sixth Raikage, her father was the Fourth Hokage. Forced to choose, she gets involved with Orochimaru and Akatsuki, but will she choose the Cloud or the Leaf?
1. Default Chapter

_A/N: Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, the characters, concepts, names and related indicia. They are copyright (c) Masashi Kishimoto. Lyrics/Song (c) Bana. Witch Hunter Robin ending - Half Pain (English trans.)... Geez, what's the point of a disclaimer? I mean, the fics on this site... well, they're on THIS site. A site called Why would you need to post a disclaimer when the whole site is specifically for fanfiction? FANFICTION. ARGH!... Whatever... Here's the fic with the weird title because I was feeling too uncreative at the time to think up a good one. It's not all posted, but unknown to you I've actually completed it :P_

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Fire and Water 

Earth and Air

Light and Dark

Life and Death

Time and Gravity

Sun and Moon

Poison and Antidote

Wood and Metal

Growth and Protection

Blood and Spirit

Ice and Lighting

Shadow and Psychic

Twenty four elements. Twenty four orbs. She had learned this well at a young age. Each had the power to kill. The power to steal life away from a person. But they also had the power to protect and preserve. Every destructive element had a lighter half. Her father had been the lighter, the Fourth ruler of the Fire Country, the blue-eyed hero who pulled the village of the Leaf from the depths of destruction. Her mother had been the darker, the Sixth ruler of the Lighting Country, the dark-haired beauty who had experimented for years on humans until she developed the perfect jutsus. She had been a mistake, the daughter of people quite possibly regarded as Gods. She belonged to no village, to no group, and she had been both blessed and cursed. From her father, she was blessed with incredible power, strength beyond imagining if she ever grew to be able to control it. From her mother she was cursed with beauty and a demon. It had been the only way for the Lady Raikage to compete with the Fourth's legend - to seal within her own child a demon. It was not human, although it came in human form, but the result of one of the Raikage's sick experiments. After a few years of living with the demon child, she had sacrificed her own life in the hopes it would redeem her for the sins she had painted herself in, leaving the child with no parents whatsoever. The demon with a soul of Lighting and Fire belonged to no country, instead living between them as a wanderer.

But she was becoming bored of bouncing between the shinobi countries.

She sat wedged between the branches of a large tree, listening to far-off blasts and wondeing where she should head. Whether or not to head to the Leaf, or to the Cloud, or simply remain in the middle of the forest. Her walkman sat on her well-muscled stomach and skipped suddenly, the song she was listening to halting. A crystal blue eye opened and stared down at it, followed by a long-fingered hand poking at a few of the buttons. The song came back on for a moment before dying again and she sat up, opening the walkman and pulling out the disc. She wiped it carefully and replaced it, trying to make it work before her eyes fell onto a small guage in the top of the walkman's screen. It was shaped like a battery with four blocks that told her how much batterypower was left. There were no little black clocks filling the space. She scoffed and pulled out her earphones, re-attaching the walkman to her pants and sighing.

The explosions were very audible now, still coming from Konoha which was far east from where she was currently. The moment she had removed her headphones her head began throbbing, the music was the only thing that had been distracting her from the fact that she was sick. _Ouch_, she thought, rubbing her temples. _I need some more batteries_. Grabbing her brown backpack from where it hung on a small branch, she tentatively opened it and felt around. The bag was virtually empty, no food, no weapons, and worst of all, no batteries. Just great, she thought, realising for the first time since she had awoken how hungry she was. Her stomach growled loudly and she rubbed it with one hand while the other massaged her temple. _I guess it's time to get over to Konoha._

There was another loud explosion that caused her to jump, and then fall clumsily from the large tree. She landed on her back, head pounding even harder, and simply stared up through the leaves of the canopy for a few minutes. After awhile, she yawned and pushed herself up, brushing her black hair from her eyes as she looked towards the east. She could smell the smoke and blood from even this distance, Konoha had been under attack for almost an hour now. She had seen the Sound-nin heading for the village, but felt no inclination to warn them of the attack. She had even spoken to a few of them, Sound-nin who she knew, and they trusted her full, knowing she preferred not to get mixed up in things like that. She had even watched for awhile as they assembled their ranks, until she became bored with watching and had retreated to a tree to nap off the day.

_This is so troublesome_, she thought, slinging the bag over her shoulder. On her forehead she bore a Cloud forehead protector, and remembering it as she began walking towards the destruction, she pulled it off and shoved it into her bag. Her hand came out lightly holding a Leaf protector mounted on red cloth. She tied it around her head bandana style and flattened the cloth on top of her head. Her head fell to look at her feet as she walked. She wore tall, black boots that stopped just between her knee and ankle and were tightly laced and neatly tied. Her black pants were tucked messily into the boots, a few bits of fabric hanging over the edge. She also wore a dark red t-shirt, plain and the same shade as her Leaf protector, underneath a black jacket which she left open, too lazy to do it up properly.

She was not well-known in Konoha, no more known than in Kumo, but there were a few who knew her, and she was registered as citizens of both villages. There had been much arguing over her as a child, deciding whether she would be classified as a missing-nin when she left the borders of one country to go to the next, but the arguing had died down and eventually become forgotten. Now, whenever she showed up in a village, they overlooked the usual rules. She carried no secrets from any villages, everything she knew she had learned herself, so there was no reason to fear another country obtaining that information. She had been to every country at some point, simply drifting wherever the wind carried her. And on many an occasion she had been asked to join a country or a Hidden Village, but she refused every time and went on with her wandering. But now, as she grew older, she realized it would be better to stay in one spot, and was considering her options of which Village she should settle down in.

There were many people hunting her, and even more who she had befriended or who owed her for favours done, information passed. She was a great source for information, she had a mental catalogue for each village that was updated constanly along with her wanderings. But no one would ever extract it with force, because although spying, lying and stealing were her specialities, she valued her connections to others even more. She had once been captured by a group of villageless ninja and 'interrogated', but they had givin up. Her stories had become so twisted there was no possible way they would ever distinguish the truth from the reality. In the end, she had been released, talking her way out, and had even left on a good note, making even more friends. She wasn't very good with names, not that she particularly cared, there were too many aquaintances and friends to remember. But knowing too much can shorten your life considerably. There were several people and groups after her, including Demoni, a group of missing-nin, and even the Akatsuki. She had had a few nasty run-ins with them lately, but somehow managed to both steal something and escape with her life every time. The only things she carried in her bag at the moment were bits of jewelery and other precious things that she simply sold off for money. She had no use for them, but she could always use more money. With money, she could do almost anything. It was what she lived off of; that, her cunning, and, when needed, the demon's chakra within her which she used to control her twenty-four elements.

There was another large explosion and she warily lifted her head. A soft _whoosh_ of air rushed past her sensitive ears and she caught a glimpse of a number of Sound-nin as they passed around her. They had probably met her before, seeing as they simply ignored her and went on as if she were not there. Re-adjusting her bag, she looked further ahead and something in the back of her mind twinged. Her eyes shot up, suddenly alert as she jumped to the side with incredible speed for someone who had been too lazy to walk at all, and a large, burning block of cement smashed the place where she had stood moments before.

"Keh," she spat, brushing dirt off of her as she stood. She frowned slightly as she saw a number more burning blocks crashing around her, probably the result from a nearby explosion. Sure enough, as she dodged arund a tree to block from another block, she spotted the walls of Konoha. The part of the wall closest to her was completely leveled, pieces of cement still crumbling. Her frown deepened as she thought again about entering the village at this time, but as she looked to her walkam and her head gave another throb, she sighed and began forwards again.

The falling rubble had stopped by the time she reached the walls, and she peeked tentatively into the town before carefully stepping through the rubble. She avoided a few sharper peices and frowned slightly at the sight of two dead Sound-nin buried within it before stepping into the village itself. She readjusted her bag and her ears twitched. She ducked just in time to avoid a barrage of kunai that had been sent directly at her, and she turned to see two Sound-nin charging.

She reacted instantly, throwing out her hands before her and dropping her bag. Twenty-four orbs materialized around her, stopping more kunai and a few shuriken, and the Sound-nin nearest to her suddenly burst into flame as he paused for a second. The other one was harder to target since he was darting everywhere very quickly. He vanished and she sensed a kunai heading her way from behind, and the orbs automatically blocked it. She fell into a crouch and sprung towards him, catching him off guard and quickly slitting open his throat with a clawed hand. As he fell to the ground the claws faded back into normal fingers along with the orbs as they disappeared. She trotted casually back to her bag, her head still pounding with her migrane headache, and she turned to leave. But as she saw the body of the Sound-nin lying there, she turned that way, kneeling beside it and feeling for any lumps on his body. She reached into a pocket and removed a number of weapons, a few soldier pills and some spare change. She left the common weapons and pocketed the change, glancing at the next body. She was not low enough to touch something as horribly burned as that, so she turned away in disgust and continued into the village.

She yawned widely again as she trotted through the wrecked streets, wondering where on earth she would find food or batteries at a time like this. She failed to sense something, two things, heading her way at an unprecedented speed. A young boy, perhaps slightly older than her, collided with her stomach and she stumbled back. This was followed by another boy who also landed on her and together they pinned her flat on her back. A few feet away, a girl skidded to a halt in the dirt, unconcious.

"Geez, watch where you're going," she muttered, pushing the bodies off her. But she froze as she saw the condition of the Leaf-nin. The boy that had first collided with her had blood smeared across his brow, and numerous wounds over his back. The other boy was no better, but the girl seemed unhurt, save for the fact that she was unconcious. She was up in a flash, drawing her dagger as the orbs materialized around her again. She spotted a number of Sound-nin facing her, but they were not moving.

"What are you doing here?" asked a familiar voice that came from the group's leader.

"Oh, it's you. I ran out of batteries," she said, relaxing slightly.

"Batteries? For what, your walkman again? Do you ever stop listening to that thing?"

"Of course. When the batteries run out. But I'm hungry as well. This village looks like crap, the stores are all squashed flat. It looks like someone rolled a giant ball through here that squished all of the buildings," she said, looking around.

"One of Orochimaru's summons was sent through here," said another group member. She rubbed her stomach, wincing slightly from where the boys had smashed into her.

"Watch where you throw people, that kinda hurt," she muttered, formulating a plan to get the other Leaf-nin out of there. She shouldered her bag again and made to leave, heading past the Sound-nin casually. They remained for a moment as her eyes slid to the side, checking their position. They finally vanished, jumping to the rooftops as she turned a corner and waited a few moments, counting the seconds before quickly breaking her cover and heading to where the Leaf-nin lay. They were each around fourteen, her age, or slightly older, and all were unconcious. Or so she hoped. She rolled over the two boys first.

The one who had hit her first had raven black hair, darker than even her own, with evenly proportioned, handsome features that were contorted in pain. He has a long, fresh gash running from the corner of his left eye down to his jaw, which was less severe than it looked, although there was certainly enough blood for her liking. The other boy had light brown, almost blonde hair that was short and neatly spiked, but stained with dark, red blood. She watched as it dribbled down his temple and dripped to the ground, wondering what to do with the boys. The girl who was a few feet off had dyed, vibrant blue hair that was the same length as hers, reaching almost to her shoulders. She stood and moved over to the girl, shaking her gently.

"Hey, you alright? Wake up," she said, still shaking her. She girl groaned and cracked open an eye, spotting her and coughing a few times. She pushed herself up off the ground and coughed a few more times, clutchign her stomach and looking over to where the other two lay.

"Aiiieee! SORA-KUN!" she was up in a flash, ignoring the girl who had woken her and slumping down beside the brown-haired boy, looking over him. She plugged her ears as the blue-haired girl screamed over the brown-haired boy.

"If you keep up that screaming more ninja are gonna come and kill you," she said frankly, kneeling beside the other boy. She felt almost sorry for him, the blue-haired girl seemed to be only obsessed with the other boy, Sora.

"Who are you?" asked the girl, finally noticing her.

She shrugged. "A Leaf-nin. You should get to a safer place where someone can treat these two. It looks like things are dying down now."

"The hospital is that way... But I can't carry both of them by myself."

She sighed, this was getting to be too much work. After a few moments of massaging her temples, she took up the dark-haired boy's arm and pulled him forwards, lifting him piggy-back style from the ground. The other girl did the same for Sora and worlessly began leading them towards the hospital, but things were just getting worse for the poor girl. She paused to re-adjust her grip on the boy and when she looked up, she found herself surrounded by Sound-nin that appeared to be fleeing the village. And it was a large group as well, at least twenty. She sighed in frustration and tightened her grip on the boy.

"Run!" she shouted at the girl in front. The girl hesitated only a moment before dashing forwards followed by her. She now had a one-handed grip on the boy, and the twenty-four orbs appeared around her again. One of them faded, followed by another, leaving her with twenty-two. She was running low on chakra, and it didn't help that she was now half-starved.

"Move it, assholes!" she shouted, throwing out an arm. A red orb darted in front of her and a line of fire burned out on either side, catching a few of the ninja as they charged at her. But others simply jumped over and continued forwards. A black and silver orb hovered beside the red one and suddenly vibrated, sending out a silent wave of air. The ninja directly around her suddenly slammed into the ground as the gravity incresed tenfold, holding them there. Kunai exploded from one of the fallen Sound-nin as his clone disappeared, but the orbs surrounded the other girl before her and a few of the kunai hit home. She stumbled as one embedded into her leg, but continued forwards.

_This is too much work... I'll just-_ she threw out her hand before her and an olive orb came towards her, pulsing with an earthly light. The rubble on either side of her suddenly shot up into two tall, earth walls on either side, blocking all the ninja from attacking as she charged after the chuunin girl. The walls formed a narrow, straight path on either side of the girl as she ran, turning when she turned until she slowed.

The Sound-nin were no longer following, probably continuing with their retreat, and the hospital loomed before them. She entered into a bustling lobby, full of medical-nin and doctors, all dashing around and carrying out orders or delivering messages. In one corner of the room were a few injured ninja resting on the floor and being taken care of by a group of nurses. A medical-nin rushed up to them and took the two boys as she flopped back into a chair and pulled out a few kunai. There were two in her right leg, not in deep but freely bleeding, and one in her right arm. She rummaged through her bag and pulled out a few bandages, quickly wrapping up her arm and leg and tying it tightly. Her head was pounding harder than ever as she lay back for a moment and closed her eyes. There were no more explosions, but now people were yelling back and forth across the room at eachother and she wondered which was worse - the explosions or the current noise.

"I need a coke," she muttered, another craving for the drink pulsing through her body. "This is too much work. I should have gone to another village to get food and batteries." Her leg and arm were throbbing painfully, but there was nothing that overpowered her throbbing headache. She spent a few minutes simply messaging her temples before sighing and standing. She limped slowly out of the hospital and into the sunlight, turning her head towards the face of a cliff that rose high above the village. Her eyes fell upon her father's face carved into the cliff face, the fourth in the row of Kages. The corners of her mouth twitched down in a small frown as she turned away, looking for something to eat. Her headache was driving her close to insanity by the time she spotted a ramed stand that was untouched by the destrucion around it.

There was a single, lonely woman working there, her eyes darting around in fear of another attack, and she eyed her suspiciously as she flopped into one of the tall chairs.

"Hey," she said slowly, still rubbing her temples. "Do you have anything for headaches?"

"You have a headache?" asked the young girl, her suspicious look vanishing. "I have just the thing!"

A moment later a bowl of ramen was placed before her, the aroma of the broth seeming to numb her mind slightly. After a moment of simply smelling the ramen, she broke the chopsticks apart and devoured it quickly. The woman at the bar was happily beaming as she devoured her fifth bowl and began to slow. The sixth was her last, which was her record for eating ramen, and by that time she had forgotten completely about her headache. After that, she ordered several large glasses of water, and would have felt great had it not been for the pain in her arm and leg.

"Arigatou," she said carelessly, throwing the correct amount of money on the counter and standing to stretch. She slung her bag over her shoulder and trotted into the village again, looking for any stores that were open. The only store she found after almost an hour of searching was a small corner store. But her thoughts brightened as she thought, _corner stores sell coke, right?_

She entered and immediately headed towards the small cooler, pulling out two bottles of coke before browsing through the rest of the store. She bought a small chocolate bar before grabbing a large, eighteen-pack of AA batteries and paying the skittish store clerk. She stepped into the sunlight once more and immediately opened the pack of batteries, popping them into her walkman (which had somehow managed to remain clipped to her waist) and replacing her earphones. She pressed play and the music once again filled her ears, quiet enough for her to be able to hear somone if they spoke to her, although she usually just read their lips. A life of listening to music like that prompted you to learn how to read lips and expressions.

She strolled through the village until she came to what appeared to be the epicenter of destruction, where she climbed onto a rooftop to watch a gathering of Leaf-nin. She approached closer, taking a few drinks of coke before replacing the bottle in the plastic bag the store clerk had givin her. On the roof was the body of an old man, his blood running everywhere. For the first time, she noticed something else. The entire roof was overgrown with thick tree branches that seemed to grow in a perfect square._ A barrier was set up around them_, she thought, her quick mind concluding this quickly.

She suddenly dropped her coke and it began to roll down the slightly sloped rooftop. She dove after it, landing on her stomach and scrambling to stop it from falling over the edge. Her hand caught it just as it slid over the edge. But her bag began to slip as well. She twisted in an almost impossible position, catching the bag and managing to hold onto the coke before forcing herself back up and replacing her bag.

"Hey, what's that?" came a Leaf-nin's voice. He was directing it at her. She pulled out her earphones as she looked to the ground where her Cloud forehead-protector lay.

"Uh," she muttered as more heads turned towards her. She quickly grabbed it and replaced it in her bag. "Nothing."

"What's a Cloud-nin doing in Konoha? Where's your pass?" asked the man, tensing slightly as he said the last words. "Why are you wearing a Leaf Hiate?"

There was an odd pause as she scrambled for a quick explaination. More shinobi were looking at her suspiciously, and she crossed the thin line of 'taking too long to answer' as the one who had spoken dashed forwards and grabbed her arms, roughly pinning her to the ground. Perhaps _less people than I thought know about me in this village_, she thought, not bothering to struggle as he quickly bound her hands. _Maybe I should come here more often._

"Who are you? What's your name?" asked the Leaf-nin.

"I don't have a name," she said simply, not bothering to lie and make one up. It was true, her father had givin her one name, her mother another, and the villagers in evey village called her a different name that was neither the name her father had given her nor the name her mother had given her. She never remembered which villages called her what unless someone called her name.

"Then what village are you from? And why are you in the Leaf?"

"The Leaf and the Cloud, and about every other village there is out there. And I came here to get some more batteries," she added, gesturing with her chin, as her hands were bound, to her walkman still clipped to her pants at her waist.

"You're lying," he said simply, turning to the Leaf-nin behind him. "Can anyone identify this kid?"

No one said anything and after a few moments he turned back to her, pulling out a kunai. "Explain yourself."

"Uhh... If I name some people here, can you untie me?" she asked, eyeing the kunai warily.

"Not unless they can identify you."

"Keh, you sound like a computer. Uh, let's see... people I know are... The Sandiame?"

"Are you blind?" snapped the Leaf-nin, moving aside. She looked over the body again, and finally realised who it was.

"Oh, um... Hatake Kakashi, Jiraiya, Tsunade, Orochi-"

"Orochimaru? You're with him?"

"What? Ah- n-no, I just know him. He's from Konoha, or was I guess. Now he's leading the Sound, right? Uh..." she glanced away for a moment, trying to think of more names. "Ano... That's all I remember. Can I go now?"

"Anyone could have named those people, they are well-known around here. That will get you nowhere."

"Uh... Geez, can't you just relax and let me go? I haven't done anything. In fact, I saved a few Leaf-nin back there and even killed a few Sound."

"You killed some of the Sound jounin...? A kid like you killed Jounin?" He arched an eyebrow quizzically.

"Hey, hey, I'm not weak!" she exploded in his face, causing him to jerk back a few inches. A red orb had appeared between him and her, hovering in front of her protectively.

"Oops," she muttered. The orb vanished, leaving the Jounin looking at her even more suspiciously.

"What's going on here?" came another's voice as he joined the group on the roof along with two Anbu squads.

"Kakashi, do you know this kid?" asked the Jounin in front of her, turning slightly. The silver-haired Jounin tilted his head slightly to examine her. His forehead was beaded with sweat from the fighting that had recently stopped in the village, and his eyes were continually darting to the body of the Third which was sprawled across the rooftop.

"I can't think right now. Take her to the Hokage's Quarters and make her wait there. We need to get things back in order around."

The Jounin before her roughly grabbed her, saying something to another before lifting her completely from the ground and carrying her as he jumped from the rooftop, running along other rooftops towards the edge of the city. She glared down as the ground passed beneath her in distaste, wanting to rip apart the Jounin carrying her. It took a few minutes before she found herself hundreds of feet above Konoha, on top of the cliff face that bore the carved faces of the Hokages. He slowed and entered a building, finally setting her down in a chair in what appeared to be a lobby.

"Stay here," he ordered, tying her wrists to the arm of the chair. She frowned as he left, eyeing the ropes. After a few minutes of silence, her eyes shifted to her walkman, then to her bag, and then back to the ropes. A silvery-grey orb appeared as she, with the last of her chakra, controlled it towards the rope, concentrating hard. The orb began to elongate, the metallic material stretching into a blade that she carefully manuevered towards the rope. It required her full concentration to move the blade back and forth slowly, and a few minutes until the rope broke.

She rubbed her wrists for only a moment before they darted to her walkman's headphones, slipping them back over her ears as she pressed play again. She picked up her bag and shouldered it, limping out of the building and looking around. She eventually ended up on the roof, relaxing in the sunlight with her coke. Her drink had gone flat from being shaken too many times, but she didn't care. The caffeine in it was what her body craved, and as she took the first drink she felt her muscles relax and her breathing slow slightly.

After a few minutes of relaxation, she was jolted back to reality as a number of shinobi crested over the top of the staircase, turning towards the building. They did not seem to notice her, speaking in hushed voices. In the front was the one who had carried her there quietly speaking to two other shinobi, one was Hatake Kakashi and the other she did not know. After they had entered she slowly got up and slid from the roof, to find the one who had carried her examining the cut ropes.

"Over here," she said, pushing through the doors.

"What? Ah... You," he said. Kakashi was rubbing his temples as he opened his eyes to view her.

"You are... Right, you're the Fourth's daughter," he said slowly. "Raine."

"The Fourth's?" asked the other Jounin, looking back at her. Her eyes narrowed slightly in annoyance. It had not been neccessary for Kakashi to mention her father in relation to her.

"I haven't seen you for... Four years now, almost five," he said, dropping his hands from his head.

"I was going to stay here for awhile, but I didn't get a very warm welcome. I'll just stay a few days and head out somewhere again," she said. She indicated her bandaged leg and arm as she said this, they still ached, but had stopped bleeding. She turned without a word, still angry at the mention of her father, and quickly left the room, heading out into the daylight again and re-shouldering her bag. Raine closed her eyes for a moment as she walked slowly forwards, becoming once again lost in her world of music as it pulsed through her mind.

_How far back do I have to go? Tell me.  
__Everything is so painfully vivid._

_The truth is, we couldn't understand eachother,  
__so I left and didn't looked back._

_Fall into a light sleep, it encompasses my very being.  
__I never carry out my promises.  
__So long ago, I threw away my brightness,  
__and like the light from the morning sun, it can never return._

_It lies beside this cold heart, frozen.  
__So completely mindless that it persists forever.  
__Numbly I gather the remnants of my emotions,  
__and searching for redemption, I... Fall into a light sleep_

_Fall into a light sleep, on a lonely night.  
__I'm beginning to learn the designs of sorrow.  
__The hiding away of your warm presence,  
__makes me fear the overflowing darkness._

_Fall into a light sleep, it encompasses my very being.  
__I never carry out my promises.  
__So long ago, I threw away my brightness,  
__and like the light from the morning sun, it can never return..._


	2. Gravity

_A/N: Song (c) Maaya Sakamoto/Youko(Yokko) Kanno Gravity - Wolf's Rain _

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Raine was sitting, once again, in the crook of a tree with her walkman. She had been wandering around Konoha for a few days now, and was currently thinking about where she would be heading next. They had found a new Kage, the Fifth, and one of the legendary three. She was the medical-nin, Tsunade, one of the few people she remembered from the village. Raine had momentarily considered going to speak with her, but decided against it when she thought about how much work the Hokage was probably doing at the moment. She had passed by the memorial yesterday and had noticed the list was considerably larger. The Third's funeral had been a big, flashy event, despite the fact that it was pouring rain and the ceremony was held outside. Raine had stood off to the side, watching as hundreds of shinobi placed flowers out for him, but eventually, seeking shelter from the rain, had gone back deep into the forest. 

She was now at the edge of a street full of bustling people going about their daily business, wedged almost hidden in the branches of the largest tree in a small stand of about four trees. She had been thinking hard for the last days about what she was doing with her life, where she was going, where she would be in the future, and even where or who she wanted to be with. She knew that soon it would become too dangerous to travel so often, with the Akatsuki and Demoni after her, but she might take a few more years off of being a shinobi. Being a shinobi meant that you were bound to a village, foced to comply with their rules, laws and were unable to leave without being assigned on a mission or being declared a missing-nin. If there was one thing she hated in her life, which there certainly wasn't, it was the feeling she got being bossed around by the guys on top. Even worse was her having to be the one on top, so that was part of the reason why she wandered. Sure, she would take jobs from other countries, but it was for money, and after the mission was complete, she broke all ties with her employer. It was the way she lived, and it would be odd to change that after years of living like that. Staying in one village meant she would make enemies with the other countries, but it also meant she would make solid, well established friends, instead of the shifty, untrustworthy ones she had now. But the only question that bothered her, well, not the only, but the main one, was which village was she going to live in?

She had lived in the Cloud until the age of eight when she had ran, although at birth she was taken to see her father in the Leaf. The Cloud had been her home for most of her life, but she didn't care much for it. It was always storming and raining, and it smelled of the sea. The Leaf was slightly better, but it never snowed here, and was too hot for her liking. But the people and shinobi of the Leaf were more thoughtful and kind than those of the Cloud, who preferred to keep to themselves in the shadows, not assiciating with anyone, stealing, cheating and lying. And that is what she had grown up as; a Cloud-nin with a typical Cloud-nin personality. Although she was considerably kinder and more social than a normal Kumo shinobi, and that was due to her life spent travelling. If you couldn't make friends and gain trust quickly, the road was no place for you. It was impossible to live like that if you spent you time wandering and searching for treasures and hidden stores of money.

The money also made things easier on her part, she was never in need for more, and yet she found searching for ways to make money strangely entertaining. To her it was almost like a big game. She had alot of money, her father's and mother's fortunes combined, plus what she had gathered from years of looting, stealing, doing dirty work and hunting. She kept it hidden in stashes that were well-hidden throughout the countries, with a few maps she kept in her bag that tol her of the locations of each. In her bag she only carried a small amount of money, at least small to her, which was at least one-hundred thousand cash. On good days she would be very lenient and would splurge on anything she saw, or buy things for friends, treating them to lunches and taking them around whatever village they were currntly in, but on bad days she kept it all to herself. The only thing that really mattered to her was her music, it was her escape from her distorted reality, that and her few, precious cd's. _And my coke_, she thought, taking another drink from the can she held in her hand, and keeping her eyes closed.

It took her a few moments to realise someone was speaking to her. "What?" she asked sleepily, removing her headphones and sitting up. She looked down at a group of three gennin, all her age or slightly older. She immediately recognized the blue-haired girl.

"Hey," she said, sitting up fully. "You're that girl. What do you want now?"

"Uh, we just came to thank you for that time," she said quietly.

"Oh? Who are you?"

"Suteki. Souyoku Suteki. This is Hiketsu Sora and Higure Akisu," she said, indicating the boys beside her. They were both silent, and she assumed the light-haired boy to be Sora, and the dark one to be Akisu. She looked down at them for a few minutes before grabbing her bag in one hand and her coke in the other, sliding from the tree. She was still wearing her red hiate bandana style over her glossy black hair.

"How old are you guys?" she asked casually, switching the song on her walkman to something quieter in order for her to properly hear them as she replaced the headphones.

"Sora and I are fourteen and Akisu is fifteen."

"Ah," she said, looking up. "I'm getting something to eat, you want to come with?"

"Uh... sure," said the girl, following after her as she trotted into the street.

"Tomorrow is my birthday, I'll be fifteen," she stated as they strolled through the village streets. "So I'll treat you to lunch, you like ramen?"

"Treat us? But it's your birthday, shouldn't we treat you? You saved our lives," said the girl. Raine turned towards her and eyed her for a moment.

"Are you like, the spokesperson or something? Or do the other two not talk?"

"Huh?" she turned towards the two boys who were looking at their feet and paying no attention to the conversation. She smiled and turned back. "They can't take being saved by a girl," she stated simply. Raine snorted and turned towards the ramen stand, taking one of the seats. There were only two others there, a boy in a completely orange outfit and a chuunin beside him with a long scar running across his nose. They ordered their ramen and she cracked apart her chopsticks and dug in hungrily, still wondering where to head next. Perhaps, if she decided soon, she would leave tomorrow.

"You never told us you name," said the girl beside her, pausing as she ate.

"Heh, you're right," she said simply, eating another mouthful of noodle. "It's not something I can give away freely, you know."

"Why not?" asked the girl, turning back to her ramen.

"Quite a few people are after me," she said in a slightly quieter tone.

"What do you mean, did you do something wrong?"

"I've done hundreds of wrong things, and broken laws many many times, but that's not whay they're after me. They just want to kill me I guess."

"Kill you? That's harsh," she said, pausing again. "You're from this village? I've never seen you around here before."

"Of course I'm from this village, I have the Leaf protector. But I'm also from the Cloud. I stopped by here only for a few days, I'll probably be leaving tomorrow or in a few days."

"Two villages...? Where are you going after then?"

"Don't know. Wherever I end up, or until someone hires me. My parents were well known and powerful shinobi, especially my father, and I have the same power so I get hired alot."

"Your father... That's just like Akisu's father. He's-"

"Suteki-san," said the boy warningly, glaring at her sharply. She seemed to wither under his glare.

"What's that?" Asked Raine, narowing her eyes. For the first time, she met Akisu's eyes. Her heart faltered as she looked directly into the eerie eyes. Both were a yellow-green and had slits for pupils, _like a snakes_, she thought. His eyes darted away, back to his ramen, and as he turned she thought she caught a glimpse of a strange, black mark on his neck.

"Gomen," she muttered, turning back to Raine. "Then... who were your parents?"

Raine stiffened for a moment, wondering whether or not she should tell the girl. Telling about her father would never happen, but she respected her mother slightly more, so didn't mind speaking her name.

"My mother, she was the Sixth Raikage, the leader of the Hidden Cloud."

"The Raikage? Woah," she muttered.

"The Raikage was a liar and a traiter who never deserved to walk this earth," muttered Akisu suddenly. Raine's eyes darkened as the words left his mouth.

"She wasn't that bad. In the end she killed herself because of guilt."

"It doesn't change what she did to people. She ruined my life forever. I'd be bent on killing her if she weren't already dead, I would."

"You don't know what you're talking about!" she shouted suddenly, catching herself at the last second and clapping a hand over her mouth. She rarely ever shouted or lost her temper, but saying that about her mother so freely was too much for even her. She closed her eyes to calm down for a few moments before standing and throwing money on the table for the four of the, turning in silence and leaving. As she took a few steps from the stand, she broke into a run, vanishing into the throng of people on the streets.

She felt childish running off suddenly like that, but in her mind there was no other way of escaping a conversation that involved her mother. She knew of the hundreds of experiments she had performed, but had always thought that deep down her mother had been good. It had been a blow to her morales, however, when she had found out that she was the one who had summoned the demon fox, the Kyuubi, and set it on Konoha. Her father had died fighting it, and her mother had commit suicide by putting herself between the fox and her daughter, but she had always sided with her mother, perhaps it was something instinctual. Someone insulting her that much caused her to remember things she would much rather forget.

She dashed full across the city until the houses were replaced by trees and she slowed at the top of a small hill. One, lonely tree was located at the top, and she leaned against it, wiping angrily at her eyes as she slumped to the ground, dropping the bag beside her and curling up in the fetal position with her arms wrapped tightly around her knees. She couldn't pretend to live so easily anymore, things were beginning to get to her. Before, it had been easy to laugh and fool around, wander wherever, chat with everywone, but now she could feel the part of her that belonged the the Cloud awakening. She did not like that, not at all. But there was no way she could keep up her act, keep on pretending that everything was alright. Because it wasn't. She burried her head further into her arms, pulling her legs as close as she could for protection.

f l a s h b a c k

_"Tsukimi-sama, your mother would like to see you in her meeting room," said a young Jounin. He wore a Cloud hiate on his left shoulder._

_"Baka," she snapped, "can't you see I'm busy?" She was sitting in her room with several different coloured orbs floating around her._

_"Raikage-sama gives you permission to cancel training for the day. This is very important."_

_Tsukimi sighed and stood, her pouty, four-year-old face glancing at the orbs for a moment. They disappeared and she followed after the Cloud-nin, down a long, wooden-floored hall. He led her into a large, plain-walled room with a large desk on one end, built into the wall. At the desk sat her mother, the Lady Raikage, and in front of her, several of the Cloud Jounins, one of them her own brother._

_"Aniki," she whispered, sitting beside him. Her feet dangled above the ground, too short to reach the floor. "What's going on?"_

_"Shhh," he said, glancing at her. "Be quiet, Tsuki."_

_She shut up immediately and turned to face her mother. Her mother was wearing the usual Kage robes, white and yellow with the Kanji for 'Lightning' on her hat. She removed her hat as Tsukimi and the other Jounin joined the desk, placing it on the table in front of her. She had glossy, black hair and steely, grey eyes. Her mouth was small, a thin line on her smooth-skinned face, and she was known throughout Kumogakure for her striking beauty. She was usually silent and cruel to others, but none of them expected her next words._

_"We are going to attack the Leaf."_

_"What?"_

_"The Leaf is our ally! We can't do that!"_

_"What are you talking about, Raikage-sama?"_

_She folded her hands slowly, long, thin fingers entwining like the branches of a dead tree. "We will not be using any of my men to attack. We will use our latest experiment."_

_"Then you mean..." it was the man who had brought Tsukimi there. "You mean, we are to use the Kyuubi?"_

_She nodded, causing more outbreaks from the man. "That has only been tested once! And it failed! There is no way to control it, if we summon it there, it will wipe out all of Konoha, and it won't stop at that village!"_

_"I myself will be going to make sure it does the job. And the Fourth will be able to take care of it."_

_The other Jounin felt uncomfortable at the mention of the Fourth Hokage, the Yondaime. They knew what had happened between him and the Raikage during one of the chuunin exams five years ago. That had been shortly after her husband had died in war, and the result had been her daughter, Tsukimi. As young as the girl was, they all had a deep fear and hate for her somewhere inside themselves. She had been another of the Raikage's experiments, made only to be used as a weapon. The original experiment had gone wrong, a woman turned into a demon from years of torture and testing, and she had lost control, tearing up Kumogakure. That had been the day the Raikage went into labour, and always thinking for her experiments, she had made the Jounin seal the demon inside of her child to continue with the experiments._

_"This is to destroy the Fourth then? Because the only seal that is able to trap a demon within another is the one Hayasa used on Tsukimi, and he paid with his life. There is no other way to stop a demon that powerful, only sealing it within a child."_

_"Hn," she said, her usual response. "The Fourth has a child of his own on the way, and I would like to see what he choses. They have already determined it as a male, and have named it already. Uzumaki Naruto. I simply am interested to see how he deals with this."_

Does that mean I have another brother?_ thought the young Tsukimi, smiling. "Do I get to meet my brother?"_

_Her mother turned to gaze down at her, looking blank for a moment, before her face broke into a faint smile. "I'm sure you will, one day, but not now."_

_"Do we get to see dad again too? Pleeease?"_

_"You would like to come? If you insist, I suppose you can come. Perhaps you will even see your father."_

_"Aniki," she whispered from where she clung to her brother's back. He made no noise. "Aniki, aniki!" she whacked him on the back of the head. "Sugi, are you listen-"_

_"Be quiet, Tsuki," he muttered through clenched teeth. "Just watch and sit still."_

_They had been sitting like that for hours. Simply watching the silent village of Konoha from the bushes. Her mother was the only one not hidden, staring out with a troubled expression on her face down at Konoha. She suddenly moved, and Tsukimi could sense the few Jounin around her tense up suddenly, Her brother's forehead was beaded with sweat as they watched the Raikage making a long, complicated series of seals._

_She suddenly raised her last seal, breaking her hands apart and biting her thumb. She plunged it towards the ground and wiped the blood across it, suddenly shouting "Kuchi-yose no Jutsu!"_

_Symbols exploded out from under her, burning brightly before beginning to fizz and smoke. Some of the Jounin moved back further into the bushes and Tsukimi felt her brother shaking slightly. Cloud-nin were easily frightened, and preferred to keep to themselves, but when the time came for battle, they were most likely the most dangerous type of shinobi there were. They would do anything to win, could hold grudges longer than anyone, and even displayed boundless courage and loyalty when needed._

_Tsukimi's eyes widened in awe as a giant, red-furred fox exploded from under her mother, saliva dripping from its fanged muzzle. It had dark, slitted, yellow eyes and long pointed ears, topped off with nine, swishing tails. It landed lightly on the ground, licking its muzzle in anticipation until it noticed the Raikage on its head._

_"What do you want with me, ama?" it snarled, crossing its eyes almost commically to view the small-looking shinobi between its eyes._

_"You asked for sacrifices, so I provided you with a village. Find the blonde leader, the Fourth Hokage, and destroy him," she said, sliding from the demon's snout and landing in the forest below. The fox snapped its jaws shut and turned to view Konoha, growling in pleasure._

_"You made a mistake summoning me here, oban. When I'm done here, I'll come and rip you apart as well!"_

_Its feet suddenly slammed into the forest, one of its tails taking out a patch of trees as if they were toothpicks as it launched into the air, snarling and bounding towards the Leaf. Tsukimi was shaking by now as well, and she could feel something inside herself stirring, trying to break out as well. The Cloud-nin, about thirty in number, emerged from the trees to join their Kage in watching the Kyuubi descend upon the sleeping village._

_Tsukimi was frozen as she felt small compared to the sheer power and size of the red-furred youkai as it tore through the village as if it were nothing. Soon, its own wave of destruction was met by that of a thousand, black ants which were the Leaf-nin, swarming around it and casting jutsu after jutsu that just seemed to singe its fur slightly. After one particularly large jutsu, the world seemed to go completely silent for a few moments, but the silence was shattered as a wave of sound, almost rolling as visible as a heatwave, swept through the forest, causing her ears to pop in protest. There were constant falshes and explosions, along with the shouts and screams of the shinobi and villagers. Tsukimi slid from her brother's back and moved behind her mother, childishly clutching the base of her robes and peering out from behind her. She rested a hand on the young girl's head and she looked up._

_"Mother, why is the fox attacking the village?" she whispered, on the verge of tears._

_"Shh, it's alright," she whispered, bending down and lifting her from the ground._

_"I...I want daddy. Where's daddy? Isn't he supposed to be here? Mum..." she clutched her mother's shirt and turned away as another explosion shook the ground._

_"There's dad, see?" she whispered. Tsukimi looked up and instead of one demon, there were two. A giant, red toad with a small, blonde-haired, white-robed figure atop it's head. There was a particularly large explosion as the two, oversized animals clashed in mid-air violently._

_"Dad!" she shouted, squirming free of her mother's grasp._

_"Tsukimi! Come back here!"_

_But she was dashing towards the demons at full speed, her small legs moving blurringly fast for someone so small. A yellow orb appeared before her and she jumped onto it, her feet a few inches above the orb itself as she rose into the air, controlling the orb towards her father._

_'Daddy!" she called, tears running down her cheeks. The blonde-haired young man turned for a moment at the sound of his daughter's voice._

_"Raine! What are you-?"_

_The demon fox tackled the giant toad, nearly throwing the Fourth off balance before her could retaliate with a jutsu that made a large explosion, sending both the toad and the fox back before they regained thier balance. The Hokage leapt from the toad's back and dashed towards Tsukimi, who had set herself down on one of the few, undemolished rooftops._

_"Raine! What are you doing here?" He called out, using the name he had given her instead of the one her mother used._

_"Daddy!" she pouted, grabbing handfuls of his shirt and sobbing into it. "Mummy... Mum made the fox go crazy!"_

_"Mum, huh?" his young face darkened considerably as he turned it directly towards where the Cloud-nin remained concealed within the trees above Konoha._

_There was another explosion as the two summoned monsters clashed repeatedly and she squealed, sobbing harder into her father's shirt. He looked up just in time to see the demon fox snapping its way towards them, snarling. As he moved, it allowed the four-year-old to see it, and she nearly fainted from fear, her heart skipping a few beats. But a shadow passed between her and her father, yellow and white robes billowing as as a large, yellow, electrically-charged barrier shot up around them._

_"Mommy!"_

_Blood spattered the roof and the young girl's crying stopped abruptly. Her mother lay sprawled inches from her, her smooth, black hair laying messily around her and a dark pool spreading out slowly from her body._

_"Don't touch my daughter, Yondaime," she muttered, staring straight ahead and adressing the Fourth. "She is a Cloud, not a Leaf. You cannot have my daughter. But..."_

_"You, what are you doing in my village!" he nearly shouted, ignoring the pale, weak-legged girl beside him._

_"I...I did something wrong..." she rasped, coughing as another explosion shook the roof, causing it to fall a few inches. "The Kyuubi... I didn't want... Didn't want this to happen..."_

_'You are evil! Hundreds have died because of you!"_

_She turned her head slightly to see the shaking form of her daughter. "Run, child... run away, go to your brother... run..."_

_Tsukimi remained frozen to the spot until her mother coughed up a large amout of blood and passed out, falling still. She backed away slowly, staring between her father and mother in horror, her father still glaring angrily at the Raikage. Her brother was there in seconds, grabbing his mother's body and jumping towards her. He lifted her around the waist and, with a powerful shove, launched from the rooftop a moment before it collapsed. The Hokage had left the two and returned to his place on the toad's head, clashing again with the fox. But he soon vanished from the toad's head again as Tsukimi watched frozen, not willing to believe what she had just seen._

_As the Cloud-nin began retreating, she captured one last glimpse of her father in action, a small child held securely in his arms. There was a flash of light, and when it cleared, there was nothing. Not toad, no fox, and no Hokage. But no matter how hard she tried, she could not close her eyes, not block the vision of her mother from her mind where it had burned into the backs of her eyes. She was no longer crying, and as they dashed through the trees, her eyes slowly narrowed, her eyebrows furrowing together and her mouth becoming a thin line._

Daddy killed her. He didn't protect her, even though she protected both of us. I won't cry anymore, mommy never cried. And I will never call that man my father, ever, ever again. _The stirring inside of her grew slightly as she thought this, trying to force its way out again, but she would not allow it. Her eyes were no longer shimmering with tears. They were burning. Burning with anger for the man who had forsaken her._

e n d . f l a s h b a c k

Raine's eyes were still wide open, but she was shaking again, thinking of how she had last seen her mother at the funeral in the Cloud. They had covered her in makeup and painted the colour back into her skin, but it didn't matter what they did, she had still seen her mother covered in blood with her eyes clouded and narrowed in anger. And thinking of her mother made her think of Yondaime, and that only served to anger her. She hadn't cried at the funeral, she had spent the entire time glaring needles at anyone who had come too close to her. She had been mildly suprised when a messenger from the leaf had come bearing a will from her father and a number of treasures and a large sum of money. The fortune from their mother had evenly been split between her and her brother, Sugi, and both combined left her with a large amount of money. She immediately sold of the Yondaime's belongings, not wanting to have anything to do with him, and kept only the money.

After that, she had lived with her brother and the village fell under the rule of another Kage. She put up with it as long as she could stand, but finally left her brother at the age of eight to start her life of wandering. She would return often and she left a stash of money at her brother's house, but she preferred to be as far away from where her mother was buried. Her past began to have less affect on her life, and she grew cheerier, trying to hide the fact that inside she was hurting endlessly, torn between her mother and father, the Leaf and the Cloud. She visited the leaf on several occasions, they apperently did not know that it was the Raikage who had summoned the fox. They did not know even that it had been a summoned demon in the first place. She fetl slightly sad the first time she had seen the Fourth's face carved into the cliff, but soon forgot about him. She had been troubled though, and that was when she had started having doubts that her mother had been so great. She heard stories, rumours, whispers of what her mother had done and how it had affected the entire shinobi world. She had performed experiments onf children and aduklts alike formulating new jutsus, testing theories, entertaining herself. But what had really gotten to Raine was who she tested it on. They were not her own, never her own, alwasy stolen, forced out of other countries to be turned into monsters and killed. Some had escaped and become well-known, a few to name would be the legendary Orochimaru who had escaped easily at the age of five. He had been mutated into a snake-like demon, something not human. Another she found had once been experimented on by her mother was the one known as Kisame, from the group of missing-nin known as the Akatsuki. Or unknown, since they preferred to keep hidden with a low reputation. This new information had caused her to have less respect for her mother, but she still respected her more than she respected the Yondaime.

"Hey," came a voice to her left. It caused her to jump suddenly, and she pulled her legs closer, not lifting her tear-stained face. She knew who it was, and did not feel like speaking to anyone, especially him, at the moment.

"Look," he said, standing a few feet off, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean it, alright?"

"Liar," she retorted childishly. "You meant every word."

"Fine, if you think that, then I take it back," he said, not moving closer.

"Just leave me alone. I don't want to talk to anyone right now," she whispered, some of the edge leaving her voice. That was a lie. She wanted to talk to someone, to ask their advice, to tell them how she felt. The only person she could share that with was her brother, and he was in the Cloud. Besides, she wouldn't tell him everything since she was stuck with him for the rest of her life, and she was related to him, so he would know things about her she'd rather him not know. She pulled her legs closer as she tried to repress another bout of sobs, failing miserably. She did not want someone watching her right now, let alone someone who she barely knew.

_Been a long road to follow,  
Been there and gone tomorrow,  
Without saying goodbye to yesterday. _

Are the memories I hold  
Still valid?  
Or have the tears deluded them?

Maybe this time tomorrow,  
The rain will cease to follow,  
And the mist will fade into a more today.  
Somethingsomewhereup there keeps going.  
Am I going home?  
Will I hear someone,  
Singing solace to the silent moon?

Zero gravity,  
What's it like?

_Am I alone? _

Is somebody there beyond theseheavy aching feet?  
Still the road keeps telling me to go on.

Something is pulling me.  
I feel the gravity,  
Of it all.

* * *

_A/N - Meanings (just in case):_

_aniki- older brother  
__ama- bitch  
__Oban- bitchy old hag  
__Baka- idiot/fool/stupid/dumbass etc..._

_I think the war with the Kyuubi lasted alot longer than a few minutes, but oh well..._


	3. Empty the Pocket

_A/N: Song (c) Sakamoto Ma'aya, Iwasato Youho, Youko Kanno - (Poketto wo Kara ni Shite - Empty the Pocket. English trans. from Escaflowne)_

* * *

"Why..." she whispered after sitting there for many long minutes. "Why are you still here?" 

Akisu was indeed, still standing a few feet off, having not said anything for a long time. The sun was slowly slipping behind the horizon, and the hill was the last part of Konoha to be illuminated, Raine still curled up against the silhouetted tree in the red-orange light. After another few moments of silence, she jumped slightly as he leaned against the tree on the opposite side from where she was curled up.

"Because you're still mad at me, aren't you," he said after a few moments. She lifted her tearstained face and wiped at it, trying in vain to free it from the tears that were still freely running from it. She pulled her headphones off for a moment in order to brush her hair from her face, but ended up leaving them off anyways. They simply sat in silence for a long time, perhaps almost an hour, until it was well past sunset. She finally stood, shouldering her bag. Her eyes were dry and her face was no longer tearstained as she looked up at the stars. She felt no better inside, but she would not cry around another like that, it wasn't her way of doing things. She didn't want to cry in the first place.

"I'm leaving tomorrow," she stated simply, her voice toneless, with no hint of emotion.

"Where are you going, then?" He asked quie

"Don't know, don't really care. Away from here, away from everything. I'll keep walking until I come across a village I have never been before, loot it, and continue on."

"Loot it?" he asked, a hint of suprise audible in his voice.

"It's the way I live. I fight, steal, sell and live on, it's the only way I can survive in this world."

"Sounds like... fun," he said slowly. She turned her head slightly to her left, eyeing him, or the tree since he was on the opposite side.

"You're the first person to tell me that."

"Well," he said, a smile creeping into his deep voice. "It is, isn't it?"

"Che," she said, a smile on her own face, "obviously."

"Is that all you do, then? Wander from town to town, loot them and sell it for money?"

"Hn..." she was gazing up at the stars, lost in thought. Her mind was still in shock from recalling the death of her mother, but that was not what was bothering her.

"Why are you leaving tomorrow? Or do you never stay in one place for a long time?"

"This is considered a long time. I haven't been here for four years, and this will probably be my last time here. I'm forced to move around like this." That was another thing nagging at her constantly. Being in a village meant you were in one place, yes, but it also meant that there was more protection being sided with one country. Safety in numbers.

"Ne? Why?"

_So many questions_, she thought, narrowing her eyes slightly in annoyance. "People want to kill me. Or capture me. Or steal what I have. Like I said, it's the only way I can survive in this world.

"Same with me, then."

It was Raine's turn to be suprised. "What do you mean?"

"My father is an S-ranked missing-nin, and my mother is the same. She is a part of a dangerous group of missing-nin. That group is after me. And my father... he is waiting for me to become stronger before he, too, will be after me. This village is my only protection, and I hate that, I do."

She was silent for awhile, before turning back to the stars. "Is that what it's like to live in a village then? I've never know what its like to have a home, to be bound to a country. I lived in the Cloud until I was eight, but I was not bound to it as one usually is. My father was from the Leaf, so I did not belong to either."

"I wasn't bound to this village before either, I was part of the Sand, but I never travelled, so eventually became part of Konoha."

"But..." she paused, thinking about it for the first time. Maybe she didn't want to join a village afterall. "...Doesn't it bother you that you are unable to leave the Fire Country without becoming a Missing-nin? I don't think I could live like that."

When she got no reply on his part, she turned around fully and was suprised to see that he was now leaning on the other side of the tree, facing her. She had not even heard him move, she had heard nothing at all. _Fast_, she thought, narrowing her eyes.

"I'm leaving, I need to get ready to head out tomorrow," she said curtly, brushing past him.

"Matte kudasai," he said. She stopped and turned.

"What do you want now?"

"What's your name?" he asked. She turned away and started walking again. After she was further from him, she finally stopped, forcing herself to smile and look slightly less mundane.

"Jaa, ne!' she said in a falsely happy voice. A yellow orb appeared in front of her and a gust of air swirled around her thin frame, kicking up a number of leaves as she vanished into the moonless night, not leaving the slightest trace she had been there.

* * *

"Fifty for all of it?" she asked slowly, eyeing the owner of the pawnshop. It was as high as he would go. "Fine," she said finally, pushing the jewelery towards him. He handed her the money and she left without even a 'goodbye'. It was not even light out yet, the sun had not risen, and it was fairly cold out. She stepped out from the pawnshop and turned right, heading down the empty streets slowly, back towards the corner store. 

She automatically went towards the small fridge in the back to reach for a coke, when she froze, frowing and dropping her hand. There was none left. The fridge beside this was for pepsi products only. And she was a loyal supporter of coke, she would never drink pepsi products. Ever.

"Aiya," she muttered, opening the door to the coke fridge and grabbing a Sprite. She noticed a single can of coke resting on it's side at the bottom, and she automatically scooped it up and pocketed it, slipping it into her bag with incredible speed and moving to the counter. The clerk had apperently not noticed as she paid and left the store casually, opening the sprite. She could feel her bag weighed down from what she had stocked up on, mainly batteries, but the can of coke, money, food (mostly junk food) and her few original belongings.

After a moment's thought, she headed towards the bath house, pushing through the doors and looking around. She pulled a small, rolled up towel from her bag and put it to the side as she undressed, wrapping it around her body when she was finished. Before leaving her bag in one of the lockers, she removed a small necklace, slipping it around her neck and stepping through the doors of the woman's bath.

She bathed quickly, washing out her hair several times. It was much longer when wet, reaching to her shoulders, and even wet it lost none of it's silkiness. When other women began coming in, she decided she had spent long enough relaxing and got out to get dressed. She used the washroom and grabbed her bag, slinging it over her shoulder and hitting the road again. On her way, she stopped to get some breakfast, ramen again, where she got an unpleasant suprise. The same, loud gennin was sitting and devouring ramen as he spoke between mouthfuls to the woman. She cringed slightly as a bit of noodle flew in her general direction, before moving a few more seats down. _I can't believe I'm related to him_, she thought, glancing at her half-brother. He had no clue that she even existed, and didn't even know the Fourth was his father. And she had no plans on getting close enough to tell him.

"Beef ramen," she ordered as the woman came up to her. A few moments later, a steaming bowl of ramen was placed before her, and she broke the chopsticks quickly, finishing the ramen by the time the boy had finished three more bowls. She payed and stood, stretching and heading back out onto the streets. By now it was mid-morning, and while there were still few people on the streets, their numbers were steadily growing. She changed directions and began heading towards the edge of town.

She quickly jumped the wall and landed silently in the forest below, yawning and stretching again before stepping back onto the road. Her headphones were still over her ears, the music bouncing through her brain as she became lost in her usual train of thoughts. She would probably head back to the Cloud for awhile, but if not, she would just wander until she hit a village. There were too many questions pounding through her head at the moment to even begin sorting them out, so she didn't bother, instead falling into her usual, mindless wanderings.

Her mind suddenly went blank, flashing in a white light before a vision broke into it. She could still see where she was going, and kept moving forwards, but she could see inside her mind at the same time. Dark blue wings and showers of feathers, blood covering her hands, a voice that did not belong to her, long, flowing black hair, black armour, red eyes, black helmet, inhuman speed, she immediately knew what had triggered the sudden image to appear in her mind, and she knew well what it was. It was the memory of the first time she had released the Aohane, the demon sealed inside of her. It usually didn't bother her, often keeping quiet in the back of her mind and not trying to force out of her body. The Aohane was a compact package of pure energy, a dangerous weapon that was the result of an experiment of her mothers. The Raikage had experimented on a woman known to be one of the most powerful female shinobi in existance. She had mysteriously vanished, and although people searched, she was far from her home in the Hidden Stone. The Raikage had gone too far however, and had turned her into a demon, an uncontrollable monster with a mind of its own. It had loosed itself from its bindings on the night the Raikage had gone into labour with Raine, and she had ordered one of the Jounin to seal it within her child. The Jounin died in the process, using the four-seasons seal on the child, the same seal used to seal the nine-tails within Naruto.

_What is it? _she thought as the stirring suddenly stopped. She removed her headphones and paused, listening to the silent forest. There was no sound whatsoever, nop snapping twigs or rustling leaves, and she could sense no chakra. But then again, where had all the birds gone? She was down in a flash, dashing silently into the bushes to her right and crouching in complete silence, her body fully hidden. It was hot out, and as she remained hidden for countless miutes, she finally shifted slightly, removing her long-sleeved, black jacket and tying it tightly around her waist, which left her in her dark red tanktop. She fell silent once more, crouching low, her eyes darting everywhere. A twig snapped and her eyes darted back in the direction she had come.

_Akisu!? What's he doing here!? _Akisu was walking slowly with his head down and a bag slung over his shoulder. He seemed to not care if he made noise, and although he was fairly silent, twigs still snapped under his feet as he trudged through the forest. She watched in complete silence, unknown to him where she remained crouched in the underbrush, out of sight. As he came nearer, the hairs on the back of her neck tingled. Her eyes darted back to where he had come from as she sensed a large amount of chakra. Her eyes darted back to Akisu where he had not noticed, and then back to the source of the chakra.

She cursed silently at what she was about to do. Leaping from her cover, she charged silently towards Akisu, catching his attention and running into him.

"What are you-"

"Damare!" she hissed, pinning him to the ground. They were hidden in the underbrush fairly well, and she could sense the chakra approaching closer. She knew exactly what it was. Pressing her right hand over Akisu's mouth and using her left arm to support her slightly, her eyes slid back to the path, widened in anticipation. Her hair hung in her face, obscuring her visions slightly as her blue eyes scanned the forest. It didn't take long for the sources of the chakra to appear.

They were two men, dressed in black trenchcoats that had red, curling cloud designs lined in white, both moving with incredible silence although they did not seem to be trying. Her eyes widened farther as she scanned them quickly, noticing each had a red ring on the ring finger of their right hand. The smaller one, on the left, had raven black hair and blood red eyes that seemed to be rivited on a place that was faroff in front of him. He had a strange necklace around his neck and his trenchcoat was open, allowing his hand to rest between the folds of fabric as he walked. The other had a slitted face and small, beady eyes that made him look like a shark when combines with his sickly blueish skin. he had spiked, dark-blue hair that poked out above headgear that was mounted with a Mist template. He had an oversized sword heavily wrapped in bandages strapped securely across his back. The smaller had a Leaf protector around his forehead, and both had deep gashes going through the emblem of their country, signifying what they were. _Akatsuki, _she thought, tensing up slightly. _They've found out my location already? _Akisu's eyes had also darted towards them, and he tensed as well as they walked slowly towards them.

As they came within feet of them, Raine lowered herself further, her hair hanging in Akisu's face as she did her best to make them invisible, biting her lip and hoping there would be no confrontation. The two Akatsuki made no noise as they passed by them, and not even a breeze was stirred by their passing. She remained perfectly still, not turning her head to see when they had left, but simply remaining frozen for several minutes. Akisu suddenly tensed, and she turned her head ever so slightly, freezing instantly.

There were two pairs of feet directly beside them.

She moved with incredible speed, shifting her right hand from Akisu's mouth, she grabbed the collar of his dark blue t-shirt. In one motion, she spun him up and behind her while flipping up and twisting akwardly, landing a few feet away as twent-four orbs appeared around her protectively. She could not joke around with people like these, they were dangerous, and if she let her guard down, they would easily kill her.

"What are you doing in the Leaf?" asked the shorter of the two. His blood red eyes bored into hers as they faced eachother.

"Avoiding you. Isn't that why you're here?"

"No," he said simply, giving away no other information.

"But it's a bonus to find you here," said the shark-faced man. "Give us the Ikichi."

"...What?" she said dumbly, relaxing slightly. "Last time you wanted to kill me, now you want the Ikichi? Which one is it?"

"Both. If you don't give it to us, we'll kill you and take it fr- Hello, what's this?" said the taller man, looking behind her as if noticing Akisu for the first time. "It's the Oyabun's brat," he said, grinning widely to reveal sharp, shark-like teeth.

"Akisu?" said the other, eyeing the boy behind her.

"Now what!?" she nearly shouted, her mind racing to find an escape route. The shark man suddenly moved, pulling out the sword from across his back and cocking it in their direction. She took a few steps back, arms thrown out on each side protectively, but the smaller one was suddenly behind her, a kunai at her throat. Akisu seemed frozen as the giant, bandaged sword was held in front of his own neck, the bandages tearing slightly to reveal hundreds of tooth-like points that covered the sword.

"Stay still," warned the one behind her.

"Keh," she scoffed. "Yeah right."

Raine's body was suddenly swept away in the breeze, replaced by leaves that blew away. The Akatsuki that had been behind her slowly dropped the hand with the kunai as a dagger was placed at his throat.

"Let him go," she ordered, several of her orbs drifting towards where the shark man was still holding the sword to Akisu's throat. There was silence. Another Raine appeared from nowhere, charging the red eyed Akatsuki as the dagger left his throat and the real Raine dashed towards the shark man. An olive-green orb darted in front of her and the branches of the surrounding trees shot forth, heading directly towards the Akatsuki. He was forced to release Akisu in order to rip the branches apart, the remainder of the bandages on his sword coming off to reveal a sword covered in numerous, scaley spikes.

"Run, Akisu!" she shouted angrily as the other Akatsuki grabbed her from behind. Her hand slipped into his pocket as she dropped to the ground, her thin body simply sliding from between his arms. She saw the giant sword heading directly for Akisu and dashed between them, taking a small blow to her left shoulder. But even that small blow, coming from such a sword, completely shredded it. The branches of the surrounding trees shot out again, forming a tightly-woven, thick wall as she dashed away with a small wallet in her hand still, and her bag somehow still hanging on her shredded left shoulder. She needed no second prompting to get the hell away from there as fast as she could run. The Akatsuki were a dangerous group, and she could not properly deal with more than one at a time, let alone two of their stronger members. She had been aquainted with each of their ten, now nine, members at least once, and none of them had been easy to deal with.

Her left arm was limp at her side, throbbing painfully. She shoved the wallet into her bag and moved her hand to her shoulder, wincing as she staunched the flow with her fingers. The cuts were deep, the muscle completely shredded, and blood was leaving a clear trail for them to follow had they wanted to. But she knew they would not, they had not fought seriously before, which meant that she was not their top priority at the moment. They were after something else.

After many long minutes of running, Akisu finally slowed and stopped, landing in a small clearing far from Konoha. She landed a few feet away as he turned to face her.

"Are you alright?" he asked, looking over her shoulder and upper arm. The blood was dripping thickly from it and her other hand was stained red.

"Yes. Yes I am," she said sarcastically. She turned to face him fully and lifted her other hand, shaking some of the blood off before catching him off guard and punching him hard in the face.

"Baka!" she shouted. "What the hell were you doing following me? Are you TRYING to get killed!?"

"Itai..." he muttered, holding his bleeding nose. "Sorry. Please don't get mad..."

"Keh," she scoffed, flopping down into the grass and rummaging in her bag with her good hand. She pulled out her small towel and a number of bandages, cleaning the wound as best she could before bandaging it and using her teeth to tie it tightly. After she realized she couldn't move it, she made a small sling to support it, shoving the remainders of the bandages into her bag and carelessly throwing the towel aside. She stood and slung the bag over her shoulder, taking a step forwards before realizing she needed to rest, where she slumped back up against a tree, still glaring angrily at Akisu who was trying to staunch his nosebleed.

"No really," she said after a few more moments. "Why the hell were you following me!?"

"You never told me your name," he said simply, holding his head up to stop the bloodflow.

"Huh...?" she cocked an eyebrow. "You followed me because... you wanted to know... my name...?"

"Not only that... but yes, I suppose," he said. She noticed he seemed to be speaking alot more than the last time they had met, and she realized how he seemed timid and polite, a highly contrasting personality compared to the dark and silent boy she had first assumed him to be.

"If you want to know that much...." she said slowly, wondering why he would follow her out here to ask her name. "It's Raine, or Tsukimi, or Mitsuji, Ayase, and about fifteen other names."

"Wh-what? Which one is it, then?"

"The Leaf calls me Raine, the Cloud calls me Tsukimi, the Stone calls me Mitsuji, the Sand calls me Ayase.... Whichever you like best."

"Well... What would you like me to call you, then?"

"Dunno... Make up your own name if you want."

"You want me to... name you then?"

"Sure... name me something short so I'll remember."

There was a long pause as Akisu thought hard, still plugging his nose as he tried to stop the bleeding. "What about.... Aya, or Rei? They are short enough, ne?"

"I like Rei better," she stated, thinking for a moment. "Why did you follow me? It wasn't just to ask my name."

"I no longer wanted to stay in the Leaf, so I followed you out here..."

"What?" she asked sharply, still annoyed with the older boy. "You wanna join me?" She hadn't expected her guess to be so close.

"If you would let me."

"Huh...?" she said, her usual response. "You're... serious? You want to live life as a thief?"

"Don't underestimate me, I wasn't named Akisu for nothing, you know."

"Higure is 'twilight' Akisu is 'thief'. So... Your name means Thief of the Twilight? But how does that prove to me what you can do?"

"It doesn't. This does, ne?" He held up another wallet, almost identical to the one she had slipped into her bag.

"Was that from the other man?" He nodded and opened it, dumping the coins onto the forest floor and counting them.

"Who exactly are you?" she asked suddenly, recalling what the Akatsuki had said about him.

"I could ask you the same thing, I could," he said. _This guy speaks oddly_, she thought.

"Well, no one's ever wanted to come with me before, and being alone is part of the reason why I wander. To get some privacy, escape reality," she replied after a moment of staring strangely at the older boy. "If you travelled with me, you would need to be very strong; there are several dangerous people after me, along with a few groups."

"I am more powerful than you think, probably. I have many things going for me: a bloodline, two stores of chakra - one from something sealed inside of me and the other a gift from my father- and my contract with the snakes. I can summon them whenever I want..."

_There is definitely something strange about that kid's eyes_, she thought, not really listening to what he was saying. His eyes creeped her out- they were bright yellow-green with slits for pupils and stood out because of way they slanted and were faintly outlined in black.

"If you travel any further with me you will be classified as a missing-nin. Once you become a part of a village, you cannot leave. Do you really want that? Hunter-nin chasing after you for your entire life?"

"I can deal with Hunter-nin, I suppose. But I do not want to be stuck in the same village, not at all. So, will you let me travel with you, then?"

"I..." she had never been asked something like this before. "But... If I start travelling with someone right now, I will begin to depend on them. Travelling by myself I'm forced to come out alive, forced to be alert, forced to be resourceful in order to survive. If there's someone watching my back, I'll start to depend on them. If I get badly hurt, instead of dying by myself, they will be there to heal me, to cheat my death. If I travel with someone, they will be there to warn me of things that are approaching. And, if that someone disappears one day, either killed or runs off on their own, then I will be left vulnerable. I won't be used to stivking up for myself, I won't be used to getting hurt, and there will be no one to step in at the last second to save me from getting killed. And if that happens, I won't live two seconds in this world."

"But it's safer to travel with someone else, ne? You don't need to trust me or depend on me, that's for you to decide, it is. If you refuse, that's fine with me. I'm not going back to Konoha anyways. If you refuse, I will still take the same path, but instead of being with another person, I'll walk it alone. But trust me, it would be much more safer to travel together, ne?"

"I..." she paused to think, but her shoulder was throbbing too painfully to think properly. "I guess you could travel with me for a little while, and if you're trustworthy enough, I guess you could stay."

Akisu's nose had stopped bleeding by now, and there was a bloody cloth at his feet that he had used to clean it up. He was gently feeling his nose to make sure nothing was broken.

"You sure punch hard, ne?" he said slowly, timidly poking at his nose.

"Heh," she said nervously, rubbing the back of her head. "Sorry, I didn't think it would be that hard. But you should watch where you're going. Couldn't you sense the Akatsuki behind you?"

"I thought about it for a few minutes, yes, but I waved it off after awhile, I did. At least we got away, ne?"

"Yeah, and I didn't break my record either. I still managed to steal something from that red-eyed guy. I think his name is Itachi. I've fought him before, and I know he wasn't being serious in that fight, otherwise we'd both be dead or captured. When he fought me seriously once, he was alone, and I ended up unconcious at the bottom of a cliff for a few days. He has that thing... that bloodline. The Sharingan I think. If you look him in the eye when he activated the highest level, you're finished. I was just lucky there was a cliff behind me, it broke my arm, but it saved my life when he didn't follow."

"Sounds like fun," he said, smiling and falling back into the grass.

"Yeah, it was kinda. I stole his precious necklace, but the next time he confronted me, he had a new one. That necklace was worth quite a bit as well."

He said nothing, simply folding his hands behind his head and staring up into the branches of the trees. She replaced her headphones and leaned back, forgetting the pain in her arm as she became lost in her usual state of mind with her music pulsing through her mind. She doubted she would be going any further today, she was too tired to move and her arm was pulsing painfully. The muscle was shredded close to the skin, and she knew that it would scar for sure, there was no questioning that. She closed her eyes and let her mind wander as she usually did, wondering not where she was heading, but about Akisu and what it would be like to travel with another. She had always travelled solo, with no one to watch out for her, but this would be interesting, seeing how this would turn out. She smiled slightly as Akisu complained quietly about his nose which had apperently started bleeding again. It actually felt good to have some company instead of being alone all the time.

_If only the wind would change  
__Along my path, it would probably  
__Get a little better._

_"Wealth will  
__ruin you," they say.  
__That's somethin' I wouldn't know about.  
__There shouldn't be rules or anything like that,  
__For dreams anywhere._

_Come on, let's go on a journey, emptying our pockets.  
__We don't have a purpose or anything, but...  
__Soon..._

_Come on, let's go on a journey, emptying out pockets,  
__Carrying our indescent feelings along with us._

_Lying down in a grassy field,  
__I looked up at  
__The topsy-turvey stardust.  
__I found a shooting star!  
__But what to wish for?  
__I don't know._

_People love,  
__live, die._

_Come on, let's go on a journey, emptying our pockets.  
__We don't have a purpose or anything, but...  
__Soon..._

_Come on, let's go on a journey, emptying our pockets,  
__Carrying our indescent feelings with us._

_Na na na na na na na na na na  
__Na na na na na na na na  
__Na na na na na na na  
__Na na na na na na na na na na  
__Na na na na na na na na  
__Na na na na na_

_Come on, let's go on a journey, emptying our pockets,  
__We don't have a purpose or anything, but...  
__Soon..._

_Come on, let's go on a journey, emptying our pockets,  
__Carrying our indescent feelings with us._

_Destroying such a fanciful destiny,  
__We set off on  
__A journey for tomorrow,  
__Leaving the tin-plated town behind._

_Lift that flag high.  
__Brandish it.  
__Brandish it._

* * *

_A/N: Meanings (Off the top of my head. Just in case.):_

_Matte kudasai- polite way of saying wait. "Please wait!"_

_Jaa, ne!- "See you later!" Kakashi says this alot I think._

_Ne/Ne? - (Akisu will be using this constantly in his weird dialect that sounds kinda like Kenshin's "gozaru na") Kind of like saying 'hey' when used at the beginning of sentances, but is more like "blahblahblah yadayada, yes?/right?" when used at the end of sentances._

_Damare- "Shut up!"_

_Baka- "Idiot/stupid/dumbass/asshole" etc..._

_Itai- "Owww" or "Ouch". More of a sound than a word that can be translated literally._


	4. Heaven's Not Enough

_A/N: Song (c) Yoko Kanno, Steve Conte (Heaven's Not Enough - Wolf's Rain)_

* * *

"C'mon, just spit it out!" she hissed, shoving her belongings back into her beg as she got ready to set out once again. 

"Fine, if it matters to you so much, then." Akisu had been with her for two weeks now, and they had decided to head to the Cloud in order for her to get some more money for a long journey.

"Orochimaru," he said. She had guessed no less, but...

"And?" she said, prompting him further.

"And Higure Ayame."

"Ayame!?"

"What is it? She is the leader of some group of-"

"She is the leader of the Akatsuki!"

"Wh-what?" he stammered, dropping his bag and looking over at her.

"She was my mother's best friend until.... It makes sense now. My mother used to be married to Orochimaru, and they had my brother, Sugi, but they divorced when she found out that he was with Ayame. And Ayame is the mother of my half brother, Naruto... Wait," she took a deep breath, slowing down her thoughts and making a few quick calculations.

"My mother and Ayame were friends until Orochimaru divorced to be with Ayame. I guess after they had you, Ayame must have gone to the Fourth and had Naruto, right? After my mother had Sugi, she had me with the Fou- Uh, nevermi-"

"You're father is the Fourth, is he?" he asked, looking her over with his odd, snake-like eyes. She bit her lip, before giving in and nodding.

"My mother has three children, each with a different man," he said slowly, thinking hard. "First she had a girl, Higure Tayuya, with a man named Inochi, then me with Orochimaru, and I suppose she had Naruto with the Fourth, then."

"I thought Naruto's mother died during the war with the Kyuubi... I wonder what he would do if he knew she was an S-ranked missing-nin?"

She paused to think for a moment before continuing on with her packing. They had spent the last two weeks wandering. She had taught Akisu more about thievery, and they had robbed a few travellers together, nothing too much. She had gotten him well-aquainted with the surrounding lands of the Lightning country, and today they were actually heading towards the Hidden Cloud itself.

"Doesn't that mean that your brother, Sugi, is my half-brother then?"

"Huh? I.... I guess he is.... That's bizzarre. He has the exact same eyes as you, like a snake's," she said, thinking of her brother.

"Ah, are we realted!?" she said suddenly, eyes widening. She turned towards him suddenly. "Are we?"

"What is it, then?" he said, eyeing her oddly again. "Why does it matter?"

"Uh... nothing, nevermind," she said, her eyes darting away.

"...If you really want to know, then no, we aren't related. I don't see why it would matter, though."

She slung the bag over her shoulder, carefully avoiding her left arm, which was still in a sling around her neck. She could barely move it, but it was slowly getting better, and the bleeding had stopped long ago. Akisu shouldered his own bag and they began walking again, not bothering to hurry. The Cloud was not far from there, only around an hour's walk, or half an hour if they walked quickly.

She closed her eyes and listened to her music, not bothering to look where she was going. As if to mock her, the cd skipped several times, the song going from its usual quiet to non-existant. She moaned, these were her last two batteries. For the first time in days, she took off her headphones, leaving them around her neck and speeding up in order to reach the Cloud faster for her to purchase new ones. It was fairly sunny out, although it had been pouring rain a few days ago, and she tried to keep to the shade of the trees to avoid the hot sunlight. After a few minutes of travelling, they broke out of the forest, onto a large, barren grassland. She walked out further into the field before stopping and taking a deep breath of the morning air.

_I feel so close to the sky_, she thought, looking up into the sky. There were only a few white, fluffy clouds floating around in the endless blue, drifting wherever they wanted. The Cloud was located on the tip of a peninsula, with the ocean on three sides and the grasslands on the other, and although the smell of the ocean made her sick if she was near it for too long, she still loved to gaze across the ocean. Someday, perhaps, she would sail across it to another land. She had read of other countries that lay across the ocean, other shinobi countries. There was the Hidden Snow far north, the Hidden Moon, the Hidden River, the Hidden Star, and numerous others that she had only read about. If she ever got ahold of a world map and a large boat, there would be no seconds thought of where she wpuld head next. Well, perhaps that was a lie. She was afraid of deep water, she couldn't swim, and if the boat sunk, she was doomed.

"Ne, Rei-san," called Akisu from ahead. She snapped out of her train of thoughts and turned to him, continuing on towards the Cloud. He always called her that, Rei-san, never just Rei. He seemed so polite to people, even to the people they were robbing blind. Adn she still could not get used to his odd way of speaking, adding 'then''s and 'ne''s to everything. The Cloud was not far, you could see it from here clearly, a raised, brown bloack against the black sea behind it. She looked over at Akisu, noticing for the first time the long, white scar that ran fron the corner of his left eye down to his jaw. She remembered he had gotten it in the war with the Sand and the Sound, but had not noticed it apperently. As she looked him over quickly, she noticed also that he still wore his Konoha hiate.

"Ah," she said, catching his attention. "I'd take that off if I were you," she said, indicating the hiate.

"Oh, right then," he said, reaching up and untying it. He shoved it messily into his bag and ran a hand through his now-free hair a few times to let it down fully. It reached almost to his chin in the front, although the back was cut considerably shorter.

They had reached the Cloud in fifteen minutes, and she led him over the wall, where she paused to let him view the village. It was more of a city than a village, vast expanses of buildings in every direction. There were very few houses in the Cloud, people lived mostly in apartments to save space. She had always thought that odd, since the Cloud-nin and Cloud citiznes seemed very antisocial, preferring to keep to themselves unless it came to fighting when they could work flawlessly in unison. But she had noticed, as she grew older, that there seemed to be a deeper connection that bound all people in the Cloud together, herself included. Looking out at it now, she noticed there were more people than usual on the streets, which wasn't very many to begin with. There were usually only ten or twenty people on the streets, but now there seemed to be forty at least.

"Before we head in, I need to warn you about a few things. People in the Cloud are not friend;y, no matter what was you look at them. They are usually selfish and do not consider other people's feelings when adressing you, if they decide to speak at all. They are quiet and reserved and prefer not to be disturbed. But another thing, if you say something to insult them or the Cloud, to which they are fiercely loyal, even if it is not directed at them, if they hear you you can almost guarantee a fight of some sort. And be careful, a Cloud villager or shinobi can hold a grudge for longer than any other. Just... try not to speak unless it is absolutely neccessary."

"Got it, then," he said, brushing his long bangs from his eyes. She dropped from the crest of the wall, landing inside the city and stretching, yawning widely before heading forewards and pulling on her Cloud hiate. As they moved slowly down the streets, they earned a few suspicious looks from the villagers, but no one said anything to them as they passed. In fact, no one said anything at all. The store owners said nothing to their clients, the clients nothing to the store slerks, the villegers said nothing to eachother, and even the few young children that were around, most with their mothers, said nothing to anyone. It was the perfect example of 'silent as the grave'.

"Is it always this quiet, then?" whispered Akisu, looking around curiously.

"Eh," she said loudly, not bothering to keep quiet. A few villagers glared at her angrily, but remained silent. "You get used to it. Most of the time, this place is thundering with storms and stuff. Loud things like that. We get a lot of earthquakes and tsunamis as well."

She led him down a series of winding streets until they came across the only house they had seen so far, which stood out among the apartments, although it was not gigantic like a mansion or anything. It was long, and looked small from the front, being wedged between two apartment buildings, but it had two floors above ground and one below, with plenty of space on the inside. Like the other buildings, it was unpainted, leaving it a light, straw-coloured brown.

"This is my brother's house. My house too, I guess, when I come to the Cloud."

She leaned against the frame of the door and knocked a few times, waiting patiently. It took a few moments for footsteps to be heard, then a lock turning and then someone opening the door.

"Aniki," she said. "I- huh? Who the Hell are you, lady?"

There was no brother there, but a woman with maroon, blood-coloured hair. She wore a pair of glasses with thin frames and small lenses over her brown eyes, and looked to be in her early twenties.

"I could ask you the same," she stated slowly. Her voice was a low, bored-sounding drone, but it sounded somehow musical and smooth.

"I asked you first," she said childishly. Having been spoiled as a child and suddenly switching to a life on her own had caused bits of her former vocabulary to slip into her speech against her will at times, like now.

"Hitomi," she said curtly, closing the door slightly and blocking their view of the inside.

"Tsukimi," she said, using the name people used for her in the Cloud.

"Sugi's sister?"

"What!? Did you say somethin' Hitomi?" came her brother's voice from inside. The door suddenly opened full to reveal a shirtless Sugi, his long black hair hanging messily in his half-closed, yellow, snake-like eyes.

"You!" he shouted, grinning and jumping out of the house. He grabbed her roughly and held her in a meant-to-be-playful headlock that was quite painful because of her injured arm, messing up her hair.

"Itai, itai, itai!!! Stop it, aniki!" She thrashed out violently, trying to loose his hold where her shoulder was, and it throbbed painfully in protest.

"Okay, okay, geez," he said, releasing her suddenly and letting her drop to the floor. She groaned in pain, holding her shoulder and rubbing the feeling back into her arm.

"Let us in now," she complained, still speaking like a little kid.

"Ah, who's this?" he asked. There was an ackward moment of silence as the two boys eyed eachother, noticing how alike they were- the eyes, hair, body, build. Akisu's eyes fell onto the small, black mark on Sugi's neck that signified he could be controlled by Orochimaru; his curse seal.

"I'm Akisu," he said finally, making the first move to break the ice.

"Uhh, sure. Right then," said Sugi, moving aside. Hitomi moved as well, allowing them into the house. Akisu noticed how Rei and her brother spoke in the same way, as if they were both five-year-olds, or as if they had no clue what was going on. Either that or they just plain didn't care.

The inside of Sugi's house was well-organized and spacey, all the furniture arranged in such a way to make it seem there was more space than there really was. There were very few framed pictures on the walls, but the few there were had been hung in specific ways in order for them to catch one's eye. Everything was the same colour as the outside of the house - unpainted- and the furniture was fairly light-coloured, fitting the room well. Despite how dark her brother looked, often dressing in black, with his black hair and snake-eyes, his house had many windows that allowed much light to enter and illuminate the light furniture. And the house was exactly how she remembered it, not one pillow out of place.

"Why don't you just stay in one place, like here in the Cloud?" asked Sugi, turning to her as he flopped back onto the couch and pulled on a shirt.

"The people from the Cloud are all so antisocial and quiet. They're mean too if you get too close to them."

"Keh," he scoffed, using one of her favourite noises. "That's such a cynical view; you're so prejudicial."

"What the Hell are you talking about? Speak normally."

"I said you're judging the people here too quickly. Don't jump to conclusions."

"Che... I lived here for eight years, I know what the people are like."

"And I've lived here for twenty-four... what happened to your arm?" he asked suddenly, as if noticing it for the first time.

"Ah," she said, glancing down at it. "Akatsuki."

"Again!?" She nodded, biting her lip. Her brother sighted and stood, facing away.

"Come here, Tsuki. I have to talk to you, this is getting too dangerous."

She sighed and glanced at Akisu before standing and heading after her brother, leaving her bag behind. She followed him upsatirs and into her old bedroom, where he closed the door behind them and turned to face her where she sat on her bed.

"This is just ridiculous. How long can you possibly survive with nine s-ranked missing-nin after you?"

"I can deal with it, I haven't been killed yet, have I." He wiped his face with a hand, massaging it for a moment.

"Just give it to them next time, they won't be able to use it."

"No," she said protectively, pulling the necklace from inside her shirt and examining it. It shimmered in an array of colours, twenty-four colours that bled into eachother to paint beautiful patterns across the stone's surface. "You don't know Ayame, she is incredibly smart and will not stop until she gets what she wants."

"And they want the Ikichi, not you, am I correct? The only reason they have to kill you is to get the Ikichi, right? If you give it to them, they will no longer chase you."

"But Demoni wants it too," she pointed out.

"Demoni is not nearly as dangerous as the Akatsuki. The only s-ranked shinobi in their group are the leader and the second-highest ranking."

"They are getting steadily stronger. I wouldn't underestimate them."

"Look, Tsukimi," he said, facing her fully. "If you will not listen to me, then it doesn't matter. By your next birthday, you will be forced to decide."

"Wh-what?" she stammered, trying to catch what he was saying.

"By the time you turn sixteen you'll be more mature, your mind will think differently. And it also makes you more of a threat to other villages. The law states that, while there are other children who belong to two or more countries, all of them must settle in a village by their sixteenth birthday."

"Keh," she scoffed, turning away slightly. "I still have a year."

Sugi sighed, wondering how his sister had managed to survive all these years. "And, who is this boy? Is he like... your boyfriend or something?"

"No," she said. "He ran from the Leaf. Now he's travelling with me. Oh, and he's your half-brother."

"He- What!? Half-brother? Then his father was Orochimaru?"

She nodded, wondering what Sugi was thinking at the moment. He suddenly reached behind him and pulled out a small, plastic bag with something inside of it, handing it to her.

"Happy birthday," he said as she took it. She reached in and pulled out a small, compact, silver walkman, complete with headphones that clipped onto her ears. In the bottom of the bag was a large package of batteries.

"Wow, thanks aniki," she said, jumping on him and hugging him with her good arm. She removed her old headphones from around her neck and put her other walkman on the bed, quickly putting batteries into the silver walkman and attatching the earphones to her ears. The sound was much cleared than her other headphones, and they fit much better. Sugi turned, but she stopped him.

"And what's up with this girl down there, Hitomi?"

"Uh... She's my girlfriend," he said, blushing slightly. She grinned and flipped off the bed.

"I'm gonna show Akisu around," she stated, brushing past him and heading back towards the stairs.

"How long are you going to stay in the Cloud? You know, if you stay to long, the Raikage will notice and force you to stay."

She paused at the top of the staircase, a far-off look on her face as she drifted for a moment, lost in her usual music. "I...I'll be fine," she said finally, forcing herself to smile. But she wasn't so sure anymore, it was getting harder and harder to keep moving forwards in her life. More and more things kept blocking the path she had chosen, and now this? But she had no one to speak with about it, no one who would understand what she was going through- a crisis. There was no way back, and if she kept on heading forwards, she would be forced to make a dicision that she would not be happy with. She was completely trapped, and it was suffocating her. The Cloud was almost like heaven for her, her brother was a great person to be with, but the memories in this village were too much for her to take, there was no way she would be able to stay here for the rest of her life. And she had told Akisu she would stay with him, which meant that they could not return to the Leaf, where he was probably regarded as a missing-nin by now. She felt like ripping out her hair and biting off her fingernails in frustration.

* * *

Rei had set up a futon on the floor of her room for herself to sleep on, while she gave Akisu the bed. he was already fast asleep, but it was impossible for her to even begin to think of sleep when her mind was in such a state. She had not told Akisu anything of what her brother had said to her about having to settle in a village at sixteen. 

She was sitting on the sill of the open window above her bed, the curtains parted fully to allow the moonlight to filter in. She brushed the hair from her face as another breeze gently swept her way, gazing out across the town. The rooftops were illuminated in a silver-blue light from the full moon above, and the few, ever-present clouds were silver and whispy in the starry sky. It was cold, but she didn't seem to notice. She was busy fighting a mental battle, and it looked like she would be forced to stay in the Cloud in order for Akisu to be protected, or... she could leave him here and head to the Leaf. _No! _she thought, snapping at herself._ I can't do that! He said he would stay with me, so what point would there be if I was the one to leave him? THIS IS SO FRUSTRATING!!! Can't someone, anyone, decide for me? I just don't want to make a big decision like this, if I choose the wrong path, there is no going back. But I'm already stuck, so what does it matter?_

_I...I can't take this anymore,_ she thought, glancing down at the sleeping Akisu. _I should just run. If I run, and keep on running for the rest of my life, no one will catch me. I could sail across the ocean like I used to dream about as a child, head to the new land and get lost in another culture. I...I could step onto a boat and leave all of these stupid problems behind. Or, I could run north, and keep on running until I reach the ocean and I'll just stay there and hide, but..._ She fought back tears of frustration as she struggled with herself. _But I don't want to live my life running or hiding! I want to live normally, just keep doing what I'm doing now, not change lifestyles like this. They... They have no right to force me into this, to force me into their stupid villages where I'm bound by their petty laws. I'm completely lost right now.... The Cloud... The Cloud is a great place, it really is. And aniki is here. But I'm sure he won't want me living with him now that he has a girlfriend, he'll want his privacy. I have money, I have my brother, which is all the family I need, but... I have no friends. I need someone who can listen to my thoughts and problems, someone who will follow me to the end of the earth if I wanted to go there._ Her eyes fell back onto the sleeping form of Akisu. _No_, she thought, _I can't bother him with my problems. That's just asking for sympathy. And I don't want that... Or do I? ARGH!!! I just want to scream right now... I could tell Akisu, but then he might get as depressed as I am, he's almost sixteen as well, closer to it than I am, and I assume the same rules apply to him._ Her eyes darted away from the sleeping boy and towards her bag, where her dagger was leaning up against it. _Or I could end it all,_ she thought. but she tore her eyes away from the dagger, she was not yet that far gone to commit suicide, especially not near her brother, let along in her brother's house. But what else could she do?

She pulled her legs closer on the window sill, shivering from the cold as she buried her face in her arms, refusing to cry. She had removed the sling before she went to bed at her brother's instruction, and her shoulder throbbed (A/N: Sorry to put a stupid note in, but HAPPY NEW YEARS!!! 2005 (as of now)!!!) painfully as she did this. The tears threatened to overflow, but she would not cry, not again, and especially not anywhere near Akisu. There was a soft _whoosh_ of air, and she peeked out with one eye to see Akisu standing on the bed with his arms folded in front of him and his head resting on the window sill at her feet.

"You're still awake?" she asked, trying in vain to keep the pain from her voice.

"So are you. Why are you still sitting here?" he asked softly. She had her face buried up to her eyes in her arms, staring out at him with her crystal blue eyes.

"...It's nothing," she almost choked out. That was a big lie. She wanted to spill everything to him, to anyone who would listen, and she no longer cared whether or not she got any sympathy from them.

"Rei-san, it isn't nothing if you're crying," he said slowly, keeping his eyes fixed out the window on a far-off place.

"I'm not crying.... I'm not.... I'm not.... I said I wouldn't cry anymore," she whispered, wiping at her eyes angrily.

"You were crying when I met you as well, you were. What's wrong?"

That was the question that she had been waiting for, an excuse to let it all out. but before she did, she spent a few minutes wiping at her eyes until they were dry, not wanting to cry in front of the other boy. "I don't know what to do. Next year, I have to settle in a village, but I can't just simply stay in one place, not when I've spent my entire life wandering. It's not right, I couldn't live like that, I'd get sick and die."

"You'll be worse off sitting here and feeling sorry for yourself," he said, not meaning his words to be harsh. But that was what she wanted, a two-sided conversation, not her doing all the talking.

"I have no where else to go, nothing else to do. I can't... I can't stay in the Cloud because it hurts to look around here, and I can't go to the Leaf because you're wanted as a missing-nin there."

"And why would that stop you, then?"

"Because, that would be betraying you. I'm not selfish enough to do that, it would be worse living like that. I just don't want to live my life running and hiding."

"Then," he said, smiling as he looked over at her. "Just keep doing what you do. Go wherever you want, don't worry about things like that until the time comes to worry about them. Live in the moment, go where the wind goes, and don't listen to what other people have to say about you. You seemed happy living like that, ne? So just keep doing that and being happy, instead of sulking in the dark and being so depressed."

She lifted her head fully, looking out at his smiling face. It was contorted from the built-up tears in her eyes, but she could see he genuinely meant what he was saying. There was a long silence as his smile faded and he cocked his head.

"Your face looks like a marshmellow, it does," he said suddenly, in a dead serious voice. There was another moment of silence, before she burst out laughing at the expression on his face. He was dead serious. She leaned back as she laughed and suddenly slipped from the sill onto the bed, where she rolled off onto the floor, landing hard on her head.

"Itai..." she muttered, wincing. It was Akisu's turn to laugh at her, but it didn't last long as she jumped up and whacked him over the head, where he, too, fell back onto the hard, wooden floor. Someone banged on the wall from the room next to them, and they both shut up immediately. Rei pushed Akisu away from her and rolled on to her futon, slipping under the covers. Akisu was right, she shouldn't get so stressed over things like this, it wasn't healthy.

"We have to leave tomorrow to avoid being noticed by the Raikage," she said after he had crawled back into his own bed. There was a long silence, before she voiced her last question before she fell asleep.

"Akisu, are we... are we friends?" She felt stupid asking such a flat-out, straight forward question, but it didn't seem to bother him.

"Of course," he said quietly.

"Then... why do you always call me 'Rei-san'?"

"...I don't know, it's just polite."

"But it's so formal. Just call me Rei, alright?"

"...Okay. _Rei._" he said, a hint of sarcasm in his voice. She finally let her eyes slip shut, and she blindly reached for her earphones, slipping them over her ears as she fell asleep. She doubted she would be seeing her brother anytime soon, perhaps she would never see him again at all. But... she would live in the moment, and leave the Cloud, leave her safe-haven to continue on with her travels.

_Heaven's not enough,  
__If when you get there  
__Just another blue._

_And Heaven's not enough,  
__You think you've found it,  
__And it loses you._

_You've thought of all there is,  
__But not enough,  
__And loses you in a cloud._

_There, most everything is nothin',  
__That it seems,  
__Where you see things you only wanna see._

_I'd fly away,  
__To a higher plane,  
__To say words I resist,  
__To float away,  
__To sigh,  
__To breathe... Forget._

_And Heaven's not enough,  
__If when I'm there I don't remember you.  
__And Heaven does enough,  
__You think you know it,  
__And it uses you._

_I saw so many things,  
__But like a dream,  
__Always losin' me in a cloud._

_'Cause I couldn't cry,  
__'Cause i turned away,  
__Couldn't see the score.  
__Didn't know the pain,  
__Of leaving yesterday,  
__Really far behind._

_In another life,  
__In a another dream,  
__By a different name.  
__Gave it all away,  
__For a memory,  
__And a quiet lie._

_And I felt the face,  
__Of a clod tonight,  
__Still don't know the score.  
__But I know the pain,  
__Of leaving everything  
__Really far behind._

_And if I could cry,  
__And if I could live,  
__What truth I did then take me there?  
__Goodbye Heaven..._

* * *

_A/N: I guess you know the meanings by now, so I won't bother typing them out again._

Rikkii: Just to tell you, this fic revolves around the songs, not vice-versa. Right?

_Chirakka: Sure_


	5. Inner Universe

_A/N: Song (c) Origra, Yoko Kanno (Inner Universe (English trans.) - Opening theme for Ghost in the Shell: Standalone Complex)_

----------------------------------------

Rei was sitting in her usual place, high up on a tree, her legs dangling lazily over the edge and her walkman resting on her stomach. Her arm was still bandaged, but she had replaced her black jacket, so the bandaging was not visible. Far below her, Akisu was eating breakfast - some fruit he had brought along from the Cloud. It had been three days since they left, and they were somewhere between the Lightning country and the Earth country. It was fairly sunny out, but because winter was nearing, the temperature was dropping steadily every day. Unlike the Fire country or the Wind country, the other coutries were cold, icy and full of snow in the winter.

Today they would be patrolling a small but busy path that led to a secluded village, lying in wait for anyone who might be unfortunate to pass by them. There were no travellers in the morning, many in the afternoon, and few at night. But the last time she had come here, there had been many people passing by in the afternoon, and it had prooved to be a good location for looting.

"Oi," she called down, turning the volume of her walkman down slightly. "Are you done eating? Can we leave yet?"

He stuffed the end piece of some bread into his mouth and muttered a muffled 'yeah' before stuffing the rest of his supplies into his bag, shouldering it and standing. She grabbed her own bag, making sure to re-attach her daggers from when she had cleaned them before shouldering it and sliding from the tree, landing in a crouch and standing.

"Let's hurry up, then," she said. She caught herself mentally using Akisu's speech, adding 'then' to the end of a sentence needlessly. But there was no way to help it, being around him she had started to pick up parts of his speech.

They strolled slowly through the forest beside him with her hands in her pockets and her music pounding through her head, the path was not far from there, only about a ten-minute walk, but from where they were they could not see it until they were directly beside it. They had already decided what they were going to do, and Rei leaned casually, in plain sight, at the edge of the path, waiting patiently for anyone to pass by. Akisu was hiding on the opposite side of the path, completely hidden in the underbrush. It didn't take long for her ears to pick up footsteps beyong the beat of her music, and she pushed off from the tree she was leaning on, strolling slowly down the path until she was in sight of the travellers.

It was a group of three men, around twenty-years-old each, and they were appernetly not shinobi or samurai or any other type of soldier that would be hard to steal from. Her left hand slipped from her pocket and made a small, inconspicuous signal as she walked around the bend, coming within feet of them where she stopped. They stopped as well, their talking ceasing as they eyed her suspiciously.

"Good afternoon," said one of the men slowly, eyeing her warily. She was dressed like a thief, and still wore her Cloud hiate around her head bandana-style.

"Are you heading towards the village?" she asked, her eyes darting to where one of the leaves on a nearby bush swayed against the breeze.

"Yeah," said the man on the left.

"I'd be careful if I were you," she warned, flicking her hair from her face.

"Why?" he asked, shifting his grip on a small backpack.

"Something's going on, something about shinobi, and the security is really loose, so there have been many recent attacks," she said casually. Lying came naturally to her.

"Shinobi? I've heard nothing about that, but thanks. I guess," said the same man. She shrugged as a clump of bushed shifted slightly, shifting the grip on her bag and brushing past them wordlessly. As she rounded another bend, she quickened towards another clump of uindergrowth, stepping into it quickly.

"Itai..." came a voice from under her.

"Ah, gomen," she muttered quickly, lifting her foot from Akisu's fingers. She dropped to the ground beside him, yawning as he dropped a few, small items in front of her.

"Keh," she muttered, looking over the items. There were two wallets, probably the most valuable, along with a small pcket knife, pocket change, a small picture of a little girl with blonde hair, and a small, plain silver ring. She emptied the wallets and turned out only a small amount of money, lifting her head to look at Akisu accusingly.

"That's all there was!" he said defensively, rubbing the back of his head.

"Keh," she muttered again, shoving it all into one wallet and tossing it to him. He put it into the bag and she flopped back.

"The people around here are poor, they have hardly anything to steal," she complained in her child-like tone. Her ears suddenly twitched, and her and Akisu's heads spun around at the exact same moment, staring unseeingly through the thick forest in the direction of the village. The world had gone strangely silent. She felt a strange tingling crawling up her spine, a feeling she got when the demon within her was subtly warning her of danger, warning her of something that could be a possible threat to her existance.

"What is it?" muttered Akisu, standing silently in the underbrush and looking back out along the road. She stood as well, her eyes fixing on a far-off place as she tried to pinpoint the odd feeling's source. There was a small break in her music as it changed from one song to the next, and in that few seconds the silence was almost overwhelming. but it was shattered as another song came on, although the odd feeling did not leave. She jumped back, nearly knocking Akisu over as a high-pitched scream shattered the forest. A flock of crows broke from the treetops as well, directly behind them, cawing loudly as they lit from the trees and vanished into the afternoon. She tensed, straining her eyes forwards along the path as voices began to reach them.

"Was that really neccessary?" came a man's voice, muffled from far down the path. "I'm covered in blood now."

"Quit complaining," snapped another man suddenly, almost yelling. Rei was frozen to her place. She had heard these voices before.

---

_"Little brat! Just give us the Ikishi! Otherwise we'll be forced to kill you!"_

_"I'LL RIP YOU APART!"_

_"Quit running and face us properly."_

_"Maybe... Perhaps we should simply capture her, sir."_

---

"Demoni," she whispered, whipping out her dagger. There would be no running.

"What is it, then?" hissed Akisu.

'The other group after me. There are fifteen, I don't know if we can deal with them all at once if this is the whole group," she said, listening as the voices neared. Her shoulder throbbed at the thought of more fighting and more bloodshed, but she pushed that from her mind, her right hand tightening its grip on her dagger.

Before she could squeeze in any further information on the group, they rounded the corner, all fifteen, and froze immediately. They were all dressed in completely black, and each had a differen design of black markings around their eyes and over their faces or necks, each depicting different demons. They all shared the sme pale, white skin, perhaps it was part of the make-up on their faces, but she wasn't sure. And each carried a specialized weapon that was currently dripping in blood. The leader carred a long katana across his back, and the one next to him carried two, shorter ninja-to's. The other weapons were a bullwhip, a gaint, four-foot long battle axe, a javelin, a scythe, a giant crossbow, a pair of giant katars, a large broadsword, a trident, a mace and chain, a long chain with teeth running along it, a pair of oversized kama's, a giant, eight-bladed shuriken and a simple bamboo staff. All the weapons were surrntly drawn, and some of the shinobi wiping the blood from them stopped and turned their painted faces towards where Rei and Akisu stood in the bushed, both groups frozen and staring at eachother.

"Raine?" asked one in the back. It was the only female member of the group, a girl slightly older than Rei was. She had a Rain hiate on her forehead and was dressed in a tight, black shinobi outfit. On top of the headband she wore which had two fake cat ears attached and the black choker around her neck, it was easily seen that her make-up was meant to represent a cat. As Rei looked closer though, she saw the the choker was less of a choker and more of a collar, attached to a leash which was held by one of the other members. The girl was the one carrying the whip, held loosely in her left hand and the only weapon not soaked in blood.

"Wh-what is the brat doing here, sir?" stammered the man with the two ninja-to's, turning to the leader.

"Why are you guys all the way out here? And what the Hell are you doing?" she blurted out suddenly, tearing her eyes away from the cat-girl to look at the leader.

"Honing our skills," he said simply, wiping the blade of his katana on a black sleeve. Any weapons that had not been drawn before were now out and readied as the group eyed her as if they were predetors looking for dinner. She was slightly taken aback at their eyes; they had changed from before. Before they had no such killing intent. They had become stronger and more dangerous.

"What should we do?" asked Akisu quietly from behind her. She relaxed and grinned, remembering she was not along this time and stepping out from the bushes, followed by him.

"Fight them, of course," she said, still grinning. She cocked her dagger and met the leader's eyes again.

"Give us the Ikichi," he said simply. "Or we'll let our neko eat you."

"Huh?" she said, looking back to the cat girl. "Our 'neko'?"

"Well, more of the Neko," he said, glancing at the girl. he made a small signal with his right hand and the man holding her leash dropped it. She looked, for a moment, as if she were about to turn around and beat it, until the leader raised his hand again. She fell to the ground, clutching her head and breaking into a cold sweat. The markings on her face seemed to grow thicker and bolder, and her mouth opened in a silent scream as her teeth grew pointed and animal-like. After a few moments of silent suffering, she suddenly stood, shaking her head as if to clear it, before sighting Rei and snarling, charging towards her.

"What the Hell!?" she said in utter confusion, bringing up her dagger to block as the cat girl pounced, literally, onto her back, trying to rip her apart, her whip forgotten. Rei brought her dagger back and slashed up, cutting the girl's shoulder open. She pushed off her back and landed in a crouch on the trail, grabbing her whip and standing a few feet back as she unravelled it. The leader laughed lightly and cocked his own weapon, the other thirteeen shinobi following suit.

"Two against fifteen.... You're not getting away this time, Raine," he said, grinning and suddenly charging, followed by the other thirteen dark, gothic figures.

"This isn't gonna be an easy battle-use every advantage you have," she warned Akisu. Chakra exploded around her as the twenty-four orbs appeared from nowhere, circling her at an incredibly fast speed. The chakra followed suit, curling around her and glowing in a dark-blue radiance. Akisu fell into a crouch as his own chakra exploded out from him, a dark purple she had never seen before. She was interested to see how he fought as she had never seen him in battle before, although he claimed to be fairly talented. Her eyes widened slightle as she saw black markings crawling across his skin, originating from a small, black mark on his neck and covering almost his entire body. They curved in irregular patterns, and as they reached his face, they made him look like one of the Demoni as they curled into fang designs and made him look even more snake-like.

"Here we go!" she shouted in anticipation, slamming a foot into the ground and sending herself flying forwards. She met the leader first, her dagger clashing with his as fire exploded from one of the orbs, catching another shinobi and sending him back onto the ground. She suddenly relaxed, letting the leader slump forwards, and dropped to the ground, bringing her leg around in a wide circle and catching another's legs, tripping him. When he hit the ground, she slammed a leg into his stomach before twisting ackwardly to avoid a slash from the leader's katana. There was a hiss of air and she flipped backwards, catching a glimpse of the place she had been moments before. There were several crossbow arrows emedded in the ground there. She engaged the leader again as the songs on her walkman switched again, parrying and dodging expertly at a high-paced speed. But he was stronger than her, and she could not force him back when needed. Their weapons clashed again and her ears pricked, hearing another hiss. An arrow narrowly missed her head as she nearly bent over backwards, taking off a small lock of her hair as it zoomed a hairsbreadth from her eyes. She moved her hands back and placed them on the ground, flipping herself backwards and catching another shinobi in the chest. Seeing this as a chance, she turned her attention to the man pinned beneath her, slashing down with her dagger just as he brought up a long, thick chain to block. The chain had several metal teeth running along the sides of each link, and as it gave slightly under the momentum from her blow, he wrapped the other end around her neck.

She gasped, realizing that should he choose to pull, her head would no longer be attached to her body. A silver orb darted in front of her and slammed into the chain, emitting a high-pitched hiss as it glowed white, severing the chain just as she pulled back. The small amount of suprise this caused the man gave her an oportunity to quickly bring her dagger across his throat, killing him instantly. She slid aside just as his dead body was riddled with another barrage of arrows, turning just in time to see a long, silver katana heading towards her. A yellow orb came between her and the weapon and a strong breeze kicked up as she vanished into a wave of leaves, apperaring a few feet away as the leader stopped in mid-swing to turn his attention towards Akisu. She paused for a moment to watch Akisu fight. He fought like a demon, and most of the other shinobi had turned their attention to him. His eyes were glowing their bright, gree-yellow colour as he tore through their ranks, giving them a hard time. She gasped when she looked at his arms and skin, looking closer and examining him intently. He still had the shape of a human, but he wasn't.

His skin, for starters, was a pale, greenish colour, but that was not what suprised her. His hair had grown out longer, reaching past his waist, and from his head came two, straight black horns. _Horns._ His left hand was no longer a hand, but a weapon, a weapon which consisted of five, straight, pointed claws. His right hand, though, consisted of two, large, dagger-like projections she supposed would also be classed as claws. From his right shoulder, tearing out from under his dark blue t-shirt, were four pointed, black bone-like horns, and as her eyes darted to his feet, she saw his shoes helplessly torn apart to accomodate scaled, three-clawed feet. He was ripping through the other shinobi as if posessed, but his yellow eyes suddenly darted to where she was staring at him, frozen.

"Rei! Look out!" Too late. A long, stiff arrow embedded into her left shoulder, her poor, poor left shoulder, probably re-opening the former wounds as she felt hot liquid spill from it under her jacket. She moved just in time to avoid being impaled by another five arrows, ripping the one in her shoulder out. _Always the left shoulder_, she thought angrily, wincing as the familiar epicenter for pain began throbbing anew. This time she became officially pissed off at the man with the crossbow, and she snarled as she charged towards him. Enough was enough.

He was a long-range fighter, hiding in the branches of a tree, but she located him quickly and left him defenseless to her short-range attacks. She dodged a large number of arrows as he tried in vain to slow her pursuit, finally reaching the tree and jumping onto the branch, inches from him. There was a moment of silence as they stared at eachother, but a moment later her dagger was pinning him to the tree, going clean through his throat where she had thrown it. Her head spun around as she heard Akisu give a cry of pain, and she dropped from the tree. He was unscathed, but was clutching his head and trying to beat off the other shinobi at the same time, eyes widened to accomodate the pain. The spines and horns slowly melted back into his body, and she dashed towards him, a pink orb darting alongside her and stopping any attacks as she quickly grabbed him, lifting him onto her back and dashing down the path. She skidded to a halt a few feet away as the group of shinobi charged her again, and made a number of seals. The red fire orb darted in front of her as she brought her hands to her mouth and sucked in as much air as she could.

"Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!" She breathed out, releasing all the air in her lungs and sending a large fire ball toward the group. As the stream of fire hit the fire orb, it doubled in size, taking out trees along with it. But she wasn't done. Her hands flew into another series of seals and an olive green orb joined the red one.

"Moro Tate no Jutsu!" The branches of the surrounding trees shot forwards, entwining before her and forming a thick, impenetrable wall that reached high and blocked any potential attacks. Without another word, she lifted Akisu from the ground and dashed back towards the village. They would have to face Demoni again today, she knew, but they needed time to recover before they went into battle again.

She faltered as she rounded the bend to the village, but continued running. There were bodies everywhere. The village was not very large, a small, seaside village with around a hundred villagers, but what she saw now made her head spin. Bodies lay everywhere, on rooftops, in doorways, street corners, all dead. Blood was pooled along the edges of the small, dusty streets and its smell hung thickly in the air. She wrinkled her nose in disgust, but continuted on, out of the village on the other side and through another patch of forest where she finally slowed to put Akisu down. He was clutching his head again.

'What are you doing!?" she shouted angrily. 'What the Hell was that... that thing!? And why did you stop!?"

"Itai," he muttered. "From my father."

"Huh?" she said dumbly, slumping down beside him.

"Orochimaru gave me a curse seal at the age of six, and it grants me extra power when needed."

"Huh?" she said again. "What are you talking about?"

"This," he said, pulling down the collar of his shirt a little so that she could see the back of his neck. There was a small mark that looked like three black fangs in a windmill pattern around a black design of a slitted snake's eye. The skin around it was red and looked irritated, and he began rubbing it again, wincing.

"I...I don't get it."

"When I use enough chakra, the seal activates and forcibally pulls more from inside of me, also making me stronger. At that point, you can see markings on my skin, but that is only level one. Level two changes my appearance and unlocks a hidden store of chakra, making me at least at a Jounin level, but it has very... painful side affects. If I use it too much it eats away at my body."

"...I still don't get it. We should move, those people will be- EEP!" she jumped aside as a pair of black ears and a painted face popped up beside Akisu. It was the cat girl.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE!!!?"

"Not so loud!" she hissed in a high-pitched voice.

She searched around for her dagger before remembering she had left it embedded in the neck of one of the shinobi. But the cat girl made no move to attack, she just sat there and watched.

"What do you want with us?" she asked slowly, eyeing the cat girl.

"I'm not with the others. They keep me to fight for them," she said simply. "Oyabun gave me a curse seal to control me with pain. It's not my fault I attacked you."

"A... Curse seal? Another one?" she paused, still not fully understanding the concept of curse seals.

"If I were you two, I'd run right now. This is my only chance to run away. Jaa, ne!" The cat girl shimmered for a moment before vanishing into thin air.

"...Okay then," she said slowly, standing. She pulled Akisu up against his will, but he slumped back down.

"I need time to get my body under control," he said quietly. His voice was strained and his forehead was beaded with sweat. She lowered him to the ground carefully, her eyes darting around to make sure no one was there.

"If we don't move soon, they wi-" there were shouts coming from the direction of the village, and they seemed to be heading their way at an incredibly high speed. Without thinking, she pulled Akisu from the ground again, pulling him over her back and wincing from her wounded shoulder before charging in the opposite direction, leaving her bag and his bag hidden in the bushes. She would pick them up later, when Demoni either left or they finished the rest of the group off.

But her hopes of getting away without confrontment were crushed as she broke from the patch of trees and skidded to a halt, looking down a sheer dropoff into the ocean. She let Akisu slide from her back as she stumbled back a few feet, away from the crashiong waves below. Usually something like this wouldn't cause her to fear death, but there was a slight difference when it came to water, She couldn't swim. Anything deeper than she was tall terrified her.

"Where are you trying to go, girl?" came a voice from behind her. She spun around to see the eight remaining Demoni, nine including the cat-girl, but she was not with them currently. She hissed lightly and backed up a few inches. She had no weapon, and Akisu was... Akisu was unable to fight._ If they kill me, they'll kill Akisu as well.... I was the one who dragged him into this fight, and I won't let him die because of me. I'll release it and kill them all._

"Stay away from me or I'll kill you all," she growled. Her voice had taken on a tone she had last used four years ago in a battle with the Akatsuki. It had been a long time since she released the Aohane, but she would not fully release it. It wasn't that she didn't want to, but that she couldn't fully release it. There was another seal on her stomach where the two Four Season's seals were located that prevented her from fully releasing it unless she had full energy, full chakra, which, at the moment, she didn't. She held up her hands in a single seal, concentrating hard while slowly releasing chakra.

Rei felt the demon inside of her stir longingly, having not been released for four years, and she smiled as well, letting a peice of her mind slip away. She placed herself in front of Akisu protectively, standing still for a moment before charging the group. Her body began to change as the seal broke partially, her eyes changing from blue to blood red. Her pupil gre into a cross shape as her eyes burned red, and her hair stretched out longer, flowing behind her in a wave as black as ebony. As she clashed with the leader, black, metal armour shot around her, encasing most of her body, and a helmet grew around her head, ending in a plate that covered her eyes for protection. She flicked the cover up to see properly as she clashed with the leader's katana, grabbing it in her gloved hands and bending it backwards, distorting it and rendering it useless. The other members charged blindly towards her, and she felt two chains wrap around her.

Jumping back, she ripped the chained weapons, one a pair of kamas, the other a mace and chain, from their wielders, spinning the mace into the ocean and holding up the kamas for her own use. She charged blindly back into the group, slashing in all directions with the two kamas and defending blows from other weapons at the same time. The entire group, all eight, jumped her at the exact same time, wrestling her to the ground. She felt the necklace around her neck strain for a moment before the fine, silver chain snapped. No! She screamed inwardly. The Ikichi!

She threw the people off of her, sending one of them off the cliff where his scream slowly faded away. The leader was holding her necklace. The leader was standing directly beside Akisu. The leader was laughing at her. Without thinking, she screamed in anger, launching herself towards him with incredible, inhuman speed, moving too fast for the others to see. She connected with him, punching him in the jaw and sending him off the cliff, but losing her balance in the process and tipping over the edge as well. The only thing running through her mind was the Ikichi. She grabbed the collar of his shirt and began wrestling madly with him, fighting wildly to rip the necklace from his grip. He grabbed her around the neck reoughly, attempting to suffocate her, but she opened her mouth and bit down as hard as she could, sinking her teeth into his arm until she tasted blood and he released her. There was someone yelling above her, and her heart quickened at the thought of Akisu. It jarred her into action. She twisted his arm back and snatched the necklace from him with her right hand, dislocating his shoulder before pushing off his body. She grabbed the cliff face with her left hand, leaving him to fall, and her poor shoulder once again bore the brunt of her action. It gave a sickening pop as her hand also snapped, but she held on for the life of her, not wanting to get any closer to the water.

She felt her form falling apart, her body reverting back to her normal self, and she clutched the Ikichi tightly in her other hand. Blood dripped into her face as she looked up at her hand. Her shoulder was probably dislocated and was numb, and her hand was gripping a jagged protrusion of the cliff, her little and ring fingers broken and her entire hand bleeding. She slipped slightly and the stone drove under her skin, ripping it apart painfully and causing her to cry out and pull back. _Pull back_. A moment later she was plunging down again, directly towards the crashing waves below. Her heart sped up and she clutched her hands to her chest, closing her eyes and waiting for it to be over.

Something inside of her twinged, squirming oddly within her, and she opened her eyes slightly, staring up. There was something plunging towards her, and white feathers were flying everywhere, swept easily away by the ocean breeze. _White wings...?_

"...Akisu!" she cried out, throwing her right arm out, upwards towards the figure._ Is it Akisu? _But as he neared, she could see him more clearly. His shirt had been completely shredded, but his entire body was plated in thin, silver armour. His eyes were no longer yellow, but an emerald green with horizontal slits for pupils, and his white wings were folded as he plunged towards her in a freefall. A few seconds before she hit the surface of the ocean, his hand wrapped around hers, stopping her as he beat his wings hard, pulling up and away. He lifted her fully and continued up the face of the cliff, being careful to avoid touching her shoulder and hand, which were lightly folded on her chest.

_I've used too much chakra too quickly, _she thought, swallowing hard and trying to stop herself from shaking. She gasped as they crested the cliff, her eyes falling upon a number of dead bodies. He had killed the remaining shinobi by himself.

"You..." she whispered, unable to raise her voice further from lack of energy.

"Sorry I took so long, but I still made it, ne?"

Her head was spinning in the odd silence as she realized her headphones had slipped off and were hanging around her neck. She felt dizzy, and closed her eyes for a moment to steady herself as he lowered her to the ground. Weakly moving her right hand, she slipped the Ikichi around her neck again and pulled her headphones back on, before opening her eyes and looking up at him silently for a few moments.

"Baka!" she shouted with her remaining energy. "Baka, baka, baka, baka, baka! What the hell were you doing before!? TAKING A NAP!? I had to let out the.... out the..." Her world spun and she squeezed her eyes shut to control her mind, coughing a few times before slipping away.

_Angels and Demons were circling above me,  
__Cutting thorns and the Milky Way  
__Don't know happiness from  
__Who knew it but couldn't give it_

_Watch in awe, Watch in awe  
__Flying glory, Flying glory_

_Watch in awe, Watch in awe,  
__Flying glory, Flying glory_

_I'm calling, calling now,  
__Spirits rise and falling,  
__To stay with you longer,  
__Calling, calling in the depth of longing  
__To stay with you longer_

_Watch in awe, Watch in awe,  
__Flying glory, Flying glory._

_Stand alone... Where was life when it had an meaning...?  
__Stand alone... Nothing's real anymore and..._

_Never endless run,  
__While I'm alive, I can try to fall in flight  
__Not forget how to dream... to love  
__Never endless run_

_Calling, calling, for the place of knowing  
__There's more than what can be linked  
__Calling, calling now, never will I look away  
__For what life has left for me_

_Yearning, yearning, for what's left of loving,  
__To stay with you longer,  
__Calling, calling now, spirits tise and falling  
__To stay with you longer  
__Calling, callin, in the depth of longing  
__To stay with you longer_

_Watch in awe, watch in awe,  
Flying glory, Flying glory_

_Watch in awe, Watch in awe,  
Flying glory, Flying glory._


	6. Dread 39

_A/N: Song (c) Ma'aya Sakamoto (Dread 39 English trans.)_

* * *

Rei shivered in the cold of the night, her eyes craking open slightly after a long sleep. She did not know how long it had been since she last slipped away on the cliff, but as she looked around, she knew they were nowhere near the village. They were in the middle of a large, grassy field, camping out in the shadow of a large stone. She was covered in her jacket, which had been removed and wrapped around her body, and one a dark blue jacket that she assumed to belong to Akisu. Her shoulder had apperently been relocated and bandaged and cleaned well, it was no longer bleeding. Her fingers and hand were wrapped with smaller bandages and tied in a neat know in her pal, her broken fingers supported with a brace. They throbbed painfully and the bandages on her hand were bloodsoaked, but they seemed to be healing well. She pushed herself off the ground sleepily, rubbing her eyes and looking around. There was a small patch of flattened grass a few feet from her, but no Akisu.

"Are you up, then?" came his voice from above.

"Akisu!" she said, tilting her head back. He was sitting with his legs dangling over the edge of the stone, smiling down at her as he brushed his hair from his yellow, snake eyes.

"Where are we?" she asked sleepily, looking out across the vast plain. There were large rocks scattered across it, poking out of the ground in several places.

"Just past the border of the Waterfall country," he said, looking around. "I had to carry you all the way here."

She remembered seeing Akisu before she passed out, his white wings and odd, green eyes. "What... What was that thing back at the village?"

His face darkened slightly as he thought about that, and his eyes darted aside as if he were embarassed. "Hikaru."

"...Hikaru...?"

"You of all people should know what Hikaru is."

"I...What?" She paused and thought for a long moment, raking her mind for an answer.

* * *

_"No, it was supposed to be more powerful than even the Aohane," said Sugi through a mouth of noodle._

_"More powerful?" she asked, cocking an eyebrow. "That's impossible...Isn't it?"_

_"The Aohane was the basic experiment, the first experiment, but Hikaru is a more advance version of the same concept. But the Aohane still has it's advantages-there are no side affects for using its powers, at least none too severe, and it can be called upon easily, at will. The Hikaru, however, will put great strain on whichever capsule it is placed in."_

_"But I thought the capsule got away. Ran."_

_"Keh," he scoffed, lowering his chopsticks. "The capsule was a two-year-old kid who couldn't even walk probably. My dad stole him."_

_"What? Why?"_

_"Well... Mum was the one to steal him in the first place, so he's just reclaiming what's his. But he knows what she did to him. I almost feel sorry for the kid, when he grows up he'll have a harder time in life than you have right now. He's like you, accept he's easier to hate."_

* * *

"It's a monster that I was cursed with by the Raikage," he said, careful not to insult her mother again. Rei didn't know what to say to that, but inside she felt as if it were her fault for his pain. She lowered her head, staring at the ground absent-mindedly.

"I...I'm sorry," she muttered, at a loss of anything other to say.

"Why?" he asked in an almost cruel voice. It was the same voice he had used at the Ramen stand when she had first spoken to him, as if it were the complete opposite of his normal, polite personality. This one was cruel, and she could tell he was not voicing everything that was going through his head.

"I don't know..." she was not used to appologizing. When she had been blamed for things as a child, she usually became very defensive and went into denial, even when it was obvious what she had done. The words 'I'm sorry' seemed to always catch in her throat-she hated to admit her being wrong. She hated losing and she hated being wrong.

"Look, it's not your fault. It's the- nevermind," he said, breaking off and being careful not to mention the Raikage's name.

"Why don't you just say it?" she asked, still staring at the ground.

"...You'll get mad at me again and yell at me," he said, taking up his normal, quiet tone again.

"No I won't I-" she broke off thinking about every other time. At the ramen stand she had run off after yelling at him, after their battle with the two Akatsuki she had punched him in the face and yelled at him, after looting the travellers she had yelled at him, after fighting Demoni she had yelled at him, and after he had saved her at the cliff she... yelled at him. She swallowed and bit her lip, feeling guilty for mistreating him so often. She remembered her words on the cliff exactly: _'Baka, baka, baka, baka, baka! What the hell were you doing before!? TAKING A NAP!? '_

"Ah," she said, rubbing the back of her head as she thought about what he had done for her. She looked up at Akisu. He was had a faroff look on his face, staring out across the plain, his yellow eyes almost glowing in the night. She knew what Hikaru did to him, she had asked her brother about her mother's experiments several times. It was said that the side affects of releasing it which came several hours later felt as if each nerve in your body was set on fire, that evey bone was being broken, that you were being held in burning oil and being drowned. At the time, she had decided that would be as close to Hell anyone could get without dying, and this boy was the one to feel such endless pain._ Twice over_, she thought, thinking of the other curse seal, the one on his neck from his father.

"Look, Akisu," she said slowly. Appologizing really wasn't her thing, she rarely ever did it, and was horrible at it anyways. "On the cliff, what I said before, I didn't mean it. Whenever I say things like that, I'm not thinking about who I'm saying it to. When I was little I was spoiled and pampered like a princess, and when I got sick of it, I ran. But no matter what I do, parts of my former self always make their way into my current lifestyle." She paused, suprised at the maturity of the words coming out of her mouth. She had never spoken to anyone like that before, usually her brain was too ignorant to come up with anything to say. When Akisu said nothing, her spirits sunk slightly. _He's mad at me_, she thought glumly._ I probably hurt his feelings this time._

"Please don't be mad at me, Akisu. I really didn't mean it. I... I can't help it when I say things like that, it just comes out before I can stop myself. Next time I say something like that, just whack me or something and tell me to shut up." There was another long silence. "I... I'm really sorry Akisu. And I mean it," she forced out the last words against her will, but they were true. She really did mean it. Usually, the furthest she would go with feeling sorrow or guilt towards someone was simply thinking about it, sometimes voicing it in a few words, but never like this. She felt horrible about what she had said to him, and she realized that it was somehow bothering her more than it should. It was as if she couldn't live knowing he was mad at her.

"I'm not mad at you," he said finally, turning to face her and smiling a faint smile.

"Huh?"

"I'm not mad," he repeated. "I was just thinking. And listening to you speak. You hardly ever say that much to me. I don't mind your yelling because I can tell you don't mean it, it's just the only way you know how to express your feelings. So I'm not mad, no."

She looked up at him as he stared out across the plain again. He was still smiling faintly, and his face was not pained or troubled, but his eyes said otherwise. His eyebrows were constantly furrowed, no matter how slightly, and his eyelids seemed to twitch or vibrate slightly. And as she looked into his slit-like pupils she could see boundless pain or sorrow. Inside he must feel the same as her, but he somehow managed to smile and laugh so oftern, to take everything lightly as if it mattered little to him._ How can he be feeling like that inside and yet act so lightly about everything? _She caught herself staring at him, and opened her mouth to say something, but thought better of it and flopped back onto the ground, pulling the jackets closer around her and bringing up her knees, wrapping her arms around them. Although she felt better knowing he was not mad at her, she had the same feeling as before. As if she couldn't live properly knowing what he was feeling inside. The same feeling that had been haunting her lately, of being trapped, helpless, suffocated, and chased.

* * *

"I wasn't completely out of it, you know," he said, smiling and handing her her own bag. "I saw where you hid them and I picked them up on my way, I did."

She grinned and shouldered her bag, slinging it over her right shoulder. She had no clue where they were heading today, and did not entirely care, but she looked around her happily. She liked large open spaces like this, she liked the way the grass moved in waves when the wind blew. It was like the ocean, which she loved, accept better because there was no water and it did not smell like fish and salt.

"We can just keep going that way until we reach the river and we can take a break to eat or whatever," she said absent-mindedly. Her shoulder and hand were both throbbing, and she held her arm to her chest in order to lessen the bloodflow to the area. The temperature had dropped drastically, and it was probably around five degrees celsius at the moment, a sure sign that winter was here.

They walked slowly through the tall grass, sometimes speaking, other times remaining silent and simply enjoying eachother's company. By the time the landscape began to change, it was early afternoon, and it was no warmer than before. Rei spotted rocks ahead and a number of birds that had not been visible on the plain, and she knew that meant they had reached the river. She slowed down as she looked out at it, suddenly turning towards Akisu.

"Race you there," she said playfully, tightening her grip on her bag.

"What? I don't think you should be running around right now, after you've been hurt," he said quietly, trying to talk her out of it.

"You're such a stick-in-the-mud, Akisu," she said, dropping her head dejectedly. He sighed.

"I suppose I could race you, then," he said, giving in.

"Okay, ready? Threetwoonego!!!" she said quickly, her last words melting together into one, long, incomprehendable word. She dashed forwards, leaving Akisu behind as she darted quickly towards the river, jumping over logs and stones and nearly flying because of her speed. Akisu was just as fast though, and caught up to her with incredible ease. She was suprised at how quickly he moved although he seemed to not be trying in the slightest. She sped up, trying to leave him behind, but he sped up as well.

"How'd you... get so.... fast?" she asked between breaths, speeding up further. The river was only a few yards away, and she suddenly broke away from him, sprinting as fast as her legs would carry her. She slowed once she reached the trees, finally stopping a few seconds before Akisu.

"I win," she declared, catching her breath. Akisu was breathing heavily as well, but he didn't use as much effort as she had, and it showed.

"Because I let you," he said, grinning.

"Yeah right," she retorted, using a tree for support. But she had a feeling he was telling the truth. The world turned upside-down as she flopped onto her back, and her eyes viewed the world from the ground. The first thing she saw was a bright shimmering coming from the river, and it intregued her enough for her to get up and move toward it to examine it. It was beautiful.

The river was moving incredibly fast, rapids crashing over eachother as they rolled downstream. There were several large boulders along the edges of the river, and each was shimmering brightly, covered in ice which was melting and steaming in the sunlight. The air here was crisp and cold, but refreshing, and she dashed forwards, forgetting her bag on the ground behind her as she jumped on to one of the large boulders to examine the river better.

"Rei!" called Akisu, coming up from behind her. "Please don't go up there! What if you fall?"

"I'm not gonna slip, I'm a ninja, I have a good sense of balance," she retorted, turning to face him. He looked worried, but eventually joined her, standing further back on the ice-covered rock and looking out across the river.

"Really, Rei, if you fell I wouldn't be able to save you. This water is below freezing, if you fell in you wouldn't last five minutes. Please be careful," he said worriedly, his eyes darting between her and the water.

"Relax, Akisu." She turned back to the river, realizing she had left her walkman in her bag, but not entirely caring. There were many birds here, and they were all singing, which was music enough for her at the moment.

"Rei," said Akisu from behind. She turned to face him again.

"Ne?"

"You're the same as me. What was the thing you released at the cliff? It was just like Hikaru."

"Ah," she said quietly, thinking about the Aohane. "My mother sealed it within me, it was the prototype for the Hikaru, a less powerful version I suppose."

"Your own mother did that to you?" he asked, almost in disgust.

"She said it was for me to protect myself with. It was meant to help me."

"But still, to her own child, that's... cruel."

She turned around fully to examine Akisu, her mind wandering. There were many things running through her mind at the moment, but she was not good with words. It was not something that came naturally to her.

"What is it, then?" he asked, snapping her from her thoughts. She realized she had been staring at him again, and turned away, her face burning. The cool air felt soothing.

"Akisu," she said slowly. _What am I doing? _she thought helplessly. But she continued on. "What do you..." she shifted nervously, her face burning. "What do you see me-"

She slipped. Her right foot simply slid forwards on the stone, followed by her left as she shot out her arms for balance, but it was too late. She hit the stone hard, her head connecting with the icy surface as her feet hit cold water. Her head had hit the stone hard though, and the moment it connected, everythin went black. Again.

* * *

Everything was cold and black as she stirred. Her limbs were numb and seemed paralyzed from the impossible cold water, and her eyes snapped open as she realized what had just happened. Water. It filled her lungs and stung her eys, chilling her to the bone. She was under water. She could see the light of the surface above her and the botomless darkness beneath her, threatening to swallow her up. She was moving quickly downstream as she began struggling, but her clothes seemed to slow her movements and drag her further into the dark depths.

She would have been pannicking had she been able to, but her entire body was frozen. She gave in and sucked in the surrounding water hungrily, eyes widening as it filled her lungs. _I'm drowning_, she thought numbly, not believing what was happening_. I'm gonna die._ Her head was pounding and she could only hear her slow heartbeat and the muffled roar of the water around her as she was tossed through the rapids. At one point, she managed to grab hold of a rock, but something strange happened. Pain exploded through her mind and she coughed out more water, her muscles freezing up as she lost her grip on the rock. Her eyes began slipping closed again, but she suddenly felt something grab hold of her. Two hands that caught her just before she passed out.

Those hands became everything, and she struggled weakly to hold onto them, her body pressing annoyingly into the rocks around her as they attempted to pull her from the icy water. They gave a particularly hard jerk and her head broke the surface, but something was wrong. Her lungs were frozen, not responding to her need for oxygen. And despite the fact that she was above water, everything was still dark and numb. The hands pulled her further out of the water before pausing. Whens she felt them again, they were pressing hard into her body, directly onto her ribs with an almost crushing force. Again and again they pressed into her, until she thought her ribs would snap from the pressure they were being put under. _No more pain, _she thought,_ if my ribs break, there'll be even more to deal with. Ugh.... open your eyes..._

Her body suddenly convulsed with another push from the hands, and she coughed up a large amount od icy water, gasping for breath.

"Aiya... Are you alright, Raine-sama?"

_Raine?...Raine-sama!? _Her head was throbbing from the cold, and no matter what she did, her eyes remained sealed. Her body was shivering uncontrollably as the hands grabbed her again and lifted her completely out of the water, completely off the ground. She was put down on something soft and she could feel the warmth of a fire directly beside her as something else was draped over her. But the cold didn't seem to be leaving her body.

"Raine-sama... Raine-sama.... RAINE-SAMA..."

"You're... annoying," she rasped, opening an eye. She immediately spotted black face paint and a small headband with black cat ears on it. It was the cat girl from before.

"You're alive!" She shouted happily, squinting at her cat-like.

"I never knew," she said, coughing a few times. She was still shivering uncontrollably, and pulled the small jacket around her, opening her other eye as well. A moment later, a large piece of steaming fish was shoved into her face, and she took it gratefully, eating it quickly despite the fact it was burning her mouth.

"I went fishing but I caught a ninja instead," said the cat-girl amiably, munching on a piece of her own fish.

"What's your name?" asked Rei, licking her fingers and sitting up slightly.

"I don't have a name. Oyabun just called me Neko. You can call me Neko, Raine-sama," she said, finishing the fish and starting on another, large piece.

"My name's Rei not Raine... and why do you call me 'sama'?"

"Rei...? Because you got rid of Demoni and I escaped with my lives."

_...Lives? What is this girl, a cat? _She looked up at her headband... which was just that-a headband. No ears attached.

"You have cat ears..." she said slowly, not believing what she was seeing. The ears folded back against Neko's head dejectedly.

"Of course.... It's part of my bloodline."

_Bloodline...? My brain's fried.... Where's Akisu? _"How did you get over here?" she asked, noticing she was on the opposite side of the river than she had started out on.

"There's a bridge a little further up stream that I found," she said proudly, pointing upstream. _How long was I floating there...? That bridge is a long ways down from where Akisu and I were..._ She sat up fully, crossing her legs and clutching her left shoulder, which had started throbbing painfully again. Blood was leaking through the bandaging again.

"Hey, Rei-sama, where's that other boy? That hot bishie?"

_BISHIE!? _"What!? You mean Akisu!?"

"Yeah, Akisu-sama. Where's he?"

"I...I don't know, somewhere upstream..."

"Alright, I'll go find him for you!" she said amiably. Her body shimmered as it had last time, before she vanished, leaving Rei alone by the fire to warm up. She looked around, the cat girl, Neko, had apperently been here for a few days. There was clothing hanging off of a tree branch, her whip at the base, and a number of smoked fish drying beside the fire. _I guess she was fishing with her bare hands_, she thought, trying to find any other means of catching fish around here.

"Rei-sama!" She turned at the sound of Neko's voice. _That was fast_, she thought, looking to where she was dragging Akisu behind her. More like clinging to him while he walked. Her eyes narrowed angrily at the sight of the cat-girl hanging off his neck, but she flopped to the ground as he saw Rei and sped up, his face unusually pale.

"Rei!" he sighed in relief, looking her over to make sure she wasn't hurt. "I told you not to get so close to the water! What would have happened if Neko hadn't been here to pull you out!?"

She had never heard Akisu yell before, and it sounded bizzarre. "S-sorry. I guess I just have crappy balance. Some ninja I am, ne?"

He paused for a moment, before snorting and sitting down, massaging his face. He looked like he had been really worried about her, really, really worried. Almost looking as if he had had a mental breakdown. She had never had anyone to worry about her for a long time.

"You can stay here for today, Akisu-sama, Rei-sama," said Neko, handing Akisu a piece of fish. Akisu looked as if he were about to be sick, but as he took the fish some of the colour returned to his skin and she stopped rubbing his temples in order to eat it. She shivered, moving closer to the fire for warmth as Neko gave her more fish.

* * *

"Why are you still following us?" asked Rei in irritation. She felt as if she were about to throw up, having eaten enough fish to last her a lifetime. Neko had been following them all day, staying a few feet behind and speaking loudly. There were times when Rei felt as if the whole forest would know of their passing through. She had been talking consistently for the last two and a half hours, oblivious to the fact that neither Rei nor Akisu had anything to say in response to her endless babbling. What irritated Rei even further was the fact that Neko was constanly flirting with poor Akisu, who tried in vain to escape her. Rei no longer knew what she was talking about, it had simply becom meaningless background noise.

"Because you were the ones who released me," she said amiably, pleased that Rei was acknowledging her for once.

Rei's head was pounding too hard for her to care, so she simple concentrated on the path they were taking through the forest. She sneezed often, having caught a cold from nearly drowning in the frozen river, and everytime she sneezed it felt as if she would vomit up all the fish she had eaten the day before. _Never again_, she thought, wincing and clutching her stomach weakly. Never again will I eat fish. _Never ever ever ever._

"Are you alright Rei?" asked Akisu.

"I'm just fine," she snapped slightly too harshly. She had been in a bad mood ever since this cat-girl had started following them. Her frown deepened and she sped up as Neko began speaking again, and she turned up the volume of her walkman as high as her ears would allow, blocking out all noise entirely. The sun was beginning to set already by the time they broke from the forest's cover, looking out across a vast land of canyons and mountain ranges, the country of the Earth.

"We should find somewhere to spend the night," said Rei, directing it towards Akisu and completely ignoring the cat girl.

"Sure," he said, edging away from the cat girl, who was engaged in a loud, one-sided conversation. He pulled further away and turned away, walking along the edge of the canyon followed by Neko and then by Rei slightly furhter behind. She was lost in thought, wondering about the moment before she had slipped into the river. _What was I going to say? _She raked her mind to find an answer, slowing down further. _Was I...? I don't think those words would ever come out of my mouth, I'm not that kind of person. But..._ She sighed, turning the volume of her walkman down further. Her head was pounding and her stomach hurt horribly, refusing to leave her alone. _What would he say if I told him what I-_

"Rei, are you coming or not?" She snapped out of her trance and looked over to where Akisu was poking his head out of a small, low-to-the ground cave.

"Ah, sorry," she said quickly, speeding up and dropping to her knees. Inside, the cave was large and roomy, once she managed to squeeze through the opening. It was dry and slightly warmer than outside, and the air seemed fresh and crisp. The sun was very low, already having fallen behind one of the mountain ranges, and little light made its way into the cave.

Rei silently moved to her own corner, still lost in thought as she pulled out another jacket from her bag, which Akisu had brought for her from where she had left it, wrapping it around her shoulders and leaning back on the wall with her legs pulled up close to her. She was not depressed or feeling sad, but it apperently looked like it, because Akisu flopped down beside her, leaning against the wall in the same manner and examining her face.

'What's wrong?" he asked, snapping her out of her trance again.'

"Nothing," she said quietly, yawning and pulling the jacket closer around her.

"Akisu-sama, Rei-sama, I'm going to take a look around," said Neko, throwing her bag and whip messily on the floor and vanishing. Rei sighed in relief.

"She's finally gone," she muttered. The affects of Neko's absence seemed to have an immediate affect on her, her head went numb and her stomach pains lessened considerably. The two companions sat in silence for a few moments as the sunlight completely vanished, plunging the cave into complete darkness.

"Hey," she said finally, turning her head slightly to see the shadowy figure of Akisu. "Akisu."

"What?" His shadow shifted slightly as he turned to look at her through the darkness. But she suddenly froze up and turned away, looking back towards the ground.

"Nevermind."

"...What is it?"

"Nothing."

"Sure," he said sarcastically. "You've bee so quiet lately, you have. Tell me what's wrong."

_But I can't, not to you_, she thought, biting her lip nervously. She felt stupid, sitting there in the darkness. She wasn't used to talking to people like this, it was foreign to her.

"Back at the river, before you... fell in, what were you saying?" he asked suddenly, breaking the silence. She tensed, her heart beating faster as she thought about it. She honestly didn't know what she had been thinking at the time.

"Ah," she said nervously, fiddling with her hands. "I...I forget," she forced out, her lie obvious.

"No you don't. Tell me," he urged, shifting slightly. There was no way to avoid it. She sighed and opened her mouth, her voice quieter than a whisper in the darkness.

"I was just asking... What you thought of-"

"Back!"

She nearly jumped at the sound of Neko's voice so close to her. _How long has she been there? _She thought. _I didn't hear her enter_. As if to mock her further, Neko yawned widely in the night before worming her way between Rei and Akisu and sticking her feet into Rei's face as she leaned on Akisu, nuzzling closer to his chest and closing her eys. Rei felt her face burning in anger, and she suddenly stood, moving to the other side of the room and sitting as far away as possible, turning away and burying her face in her arms. Sleep would not come easily tonight.

_Oh God! Please don't say that this request is worthless  
__This rude sparkle that suddenly appeared into my days of indecision  
__Please count his long eyelashes  
__among the true wonders of life_

_For just this once I'll feel true love  
__for a person other than myself  
__Even inside a body this small  
__lay sleeping courage and overflowing warmth  
__That boy has stolen my heart_

_Frankly speaking, having no destination in life,  
__and wanting to be at loss I could hitch a ride on the Moon  
__Sometimes I just wander around aimlessly  
__being unable to stop or keep going_

_The only hope I can see comes from hearing  
__the light footsteps of his red boots_

_For just this once I'll feel true love  
__for a person other than myself  
__his gestures, his bearing, his merrily awakening love...  
__Show him some more smile and don't stop for even a second  
__Let him stir up your heart_

_For just this once I'll feel true love  
__for a person other than myself  
__Even inside a body this small  
__lay sleeping courage and overflowing warmth  
__That boy has stolen my heart _

_By forgetting the present I'm entangled in and purely believing in tomorrow,  
__even dreams I that wouldn't come true before  
__are starting to come to mind again and again  
__Even inside a body this small  
__lay sleeping courage and overflowing warmth  
__That boy has stolen my heart_


	7. Cynical World

_A/N: Song (c) Yuki Kajiura (See-saw) (Cynical World)_

* * *

_Need coke...Need coke.... Need coke.... !!! _Rei groaned, turning over on the cold, hard ground. Her head was throbbing and the silence of the early morning was killing her. _SILENCE!?_ She scrambled for her walkman, pulling off the back and ripping out the batteries as if she were doing it to save her own life. She threw them into her bag and felt around until she grabbed the package of battereies...only to find it was empty. She simply sat and stared at the package for a few moments before flopping back to the ground and groaing loudly as she hit her head on the stone wall of the cave, enhancing her headache. She snarled in frustration and sat bolt upright, slowly counting back from ten in order to prevent herself from exploding. They had been bouncing around the Earth country for two days now.

"Ne, not so loud," muttered Akisu from a few feet away. He opened one of his striking snake eyes and focussed on her, rubbing the other sleepily and pushing himself off the ground.

"Argh... I'm not a morning person... Let's get going, today we're goin' to the Stone."

"The Stone? Why?"

She lifted the empty package of batteies, frowning and dropping it on the stone floor. "Batteries and Coke."

She sat pefectly still for a few moments, thinking about the last few days. She had tried to ask Akisu many times, many many times, but every time Neko somehow managed to drop in as the words left her mouth. Literally, drop in. It had begun to bother her so much, that she had threatened to kill her if she didn't get out of the cave_. 'CAN YOU JUST SHUT UP!? OUT! NOW! IF YOU COME BACK IN HERE I'LL RIP YOUR HEAD OFF!' _She remembered her words exactly, and smiled sheepishly as she thought about it. Akisu had gone oddly quiet after, afraid to talk to her, and Neko had said nothing for the rest of the night.

She sluggishly grabbed her bag and poked her head outside, before jumping back in suprise and whaking her head again on the cave's entrance. She hit the ground hard, landing in snow that reached up around her. Above the cave's entrance was a small overhang that reached several feet past the cave's entrance, but beyond that, was a solid wall of snow. Some of it had fallen underneath the overhang, and she picked herself out of it, shivering and frowing further.

"Nyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa...." came a voice from within the wall of snow. She looked up above her just as something small and black fell from the wall, showering her with ice and snow before landing on her head, flattening her.

"Is that you, Rei-sama?" asked Neko, looking around with her eyes closed.

"Watch where you're goin', Neko!" she snapped, whacking the girl over the head. She picked herself off the ground, rubbing her closed eyes and grunting in pain.

"What's wrong?" asked Rei, examining her face closer.

"My eyes are frozen shut," she whined, rubbing them. When she dropped her hand, Rei notice blood smeared on her cheek, leaking from the corner of her eye.

"Stop rubbing it, you're making it bleed. Here," she said, placing a thumb over her eye. She felt the ice slowly melt, and Neko opened her eye as she did it to the other, freeing her of the ice crystals.

"Rei-sama is the best!" exclaimed Neko, grinning a toothy smile and jumping up, looking around.

"What...What's this?" She pointed to the wall of snow and turned back to Rei just as Akisu popped his head out of the doorway, whacked it as he jumped in suprise, and fell to the floor as she had.

"What is this?" He asked, worming further out from the cave.

"Snow," she said, remembering they had probably never seen it before in their lives. Akisu came from Konoha, where the worst weather they got was rain, and Neko came from the Rain, where it... where it rained, obviously. She raised her hands and a crystal blue orb formed between them, drifting towards the wall of snow and halting directly in front. A white light enveloped the cavern for a second, and when it faded along with the orb, there was a large tunnel leading out into the daylight. She crawled through first, followed by Neko and Akisu. Outside, the world was covered in a deep, rolling blanket of white, broken only by the hoof-prints of mountain goats and deer. She groaned loudly, thinking of how difficult travelling had just become. Edging along one-foot projections and ledges was hard enough when there was no snow. Now there would be snow _and_ ice.

"At least the Stone's close to here," she groaned, trying to make herself feel better. But it did nothing of the sort, instead, she took a step forwards, and fell several feet directly down into the snow, Akisu's head popped over her, looking down as he grabbed her arm and pulled her onto the surface of the snow, where she was forced to use chakra to hold herself up._ Even better_, she thought, dusting the snow from herself and scooping up her bag again.

'Let's go. I dun wanna stay here anymore," she said childishly and sleepily, walking along the surface of the snow, the other two following her slowly. She was shivering uncontrollably- her jacket was exceedingly thin, and being her skinny self, she had no body mass to keep herself warm. Rei led them carefully along a ledge until they broke out onto the top of a flat-topped plateau, a large, white lump visible in the center.

"Is that the village then...?" asked Akisu, squinting against the sunlight reflecting from the snow around them.

"Hn," she muttered, shivering. She felt added weight on her shoulders as Akisu dropped his jacket, which was thicker than hers and still warm, over her shoulders. She turned in suprise and he smiled, dropping his hands and heading forwards in only his dark-blue t-shirt.

"Let's go, then," he said happily, turning back to look at her. The wind kicked up a large amount of snow, blowing it into their faces, and she staggered slightly as she held up a hand to prevent her hair from blowing in her eyes.

"We should take of these," she said, indicating the forehead protector she was wearing. She untied it and shoved it into her bag, running a hand through her hair and realizing it was longer than she remembered._ I need a haircut, _she thought, frowining slightly. She started forwards again, followed by Neko who seemed afraid to say anything to her still.

Getting into the village was easy, she produced two fake I.D. cards and made Neko use the Henge no Jutsu to turn herself into a cat before heading through the gates and telling the man standing there that they were visiting their Aunt and Uncle, that they were their neice, nephew, and pet cat. Rei knew the city fairly well, and immediately led them towards the nearest hotel, pulling the other two, Neko in her cat form, toward the lobby and clerk.

"One room, two beds," she forced out through clenched teeth. She ground them together harder to prevent further shaking, paying and taking the keys to their room. It was upstairs, on the third floor of the hotel, which was apperently very full at this time of year, room 305. Her hand shook as she shoved the key in the doorknob and pushed open the door to the room, shaking snow from her shoulders and handing Akisu his jacket back, thanking him. The room was large and had a view over the town, the two beds on opposite sides of the room with a number of neatly folded quilts ready for usage. She threw her bag onto the bed closest to the window, shaking the remainder of the snow from her jacket and turning to leave.

"You should stay here, Akisu. I need to go... take care of some things. Be back by nightfall," she said happily, waving as she left. But the cat skidded in front of her, looking up.

"Where do I sleep, Rei-sama?"

"Shh! Don't say anything, or they'll find out what you are. You can sleep where all animals sleep-on the floor. Outside. And, you can go look around if you want, just remain like that an' keep your mouth shut," she said angrily, using her foot to push the black cat out of her way and heading out, down the hallway. She ran her hand through her hair several times, her mind wandering absently as she left the building again, looking up. It had started snowing again.

She sighed, leaning up against the side of the building and staring off into space as the snow fell around her slowly. The town was dead silent, and she pulled her jacket around her tightly in an attempt to block out the cold._ The only thing that keeps me going is the fact that Akisu is here_, she thought, shivering._ If he left, where would I go? What would happen to me? Would I go back to the Cloud? No, I cannot go back there, it may seem like heaven at times, but I just can't stand it. I don't care if I'm being cynical, those people are not human. They are empty shells that haunt the dark corners of the village. I can't go to the Leaf, they think I stole Akisu probably. If I went anywhere, it would have to be another village, and I wouldn't be able to live as a shinobi... But... No, Akisu won't leave. He said he would stay. But that cat girl is annoying, I feel like ripping her head off sometimes. She should just go back to the Rain or whatever._

She shook her head and pushed off from the building, trudging through the snow towards the nearest store, where she purchased more batteries and a bottle of coke. She put the batteries into her walkman immediately, slipping her earphones back on and turning it on. She opened the coke and took a few sips before closing it and heading back into the cold. There was one more thing she needed to take care of before nightfall.

She trudged through the snow until she came to a number of apartment buildings, heading into the first one and punching the numbers 301 intp the speaker. It beeped once, twice, three times, four times... Aww, you better be home, she thought.

"Hello?" came a dark, slimy voice.

"It's me, baka," she said sharply.

"Mitsuji?"

"Yeah. Let me in, I'm freezin' my ass of out here," she said, pulling the jacket around her. Hearing the name for herself in the Stone had caused her to falter for a moment, she was used to 'Rei', which was Akisu's name for her. The door buzzed and she pulled it open, quickly stepping inside and shaking off more snow, making sure her walkman had none on it before heading towards the stairs. She took them up to the third floor, turning down towards the first door, 301, and knocking. It opened almost instantly, to reveal a young man, a few years older than herself, with silver hair that was neatly spiked. He wore a pair of light blue pajama bottoms and a sleeveless, light blue shirt, and was rubbing his eye sleepily. Yes, eye. His left eye had a deep scar running through it, directly down the center, and it remained sealed forever.

"Mitsuji, it's been a long time," he said, moving aside for her to step into the small, messy apartment.

"Hn... Do you have anything to give me, Shinji?"

He held out his hand after closing the door, looking at her expectantly. She pulled out a wad of money, and he gestured for more, forcing her to pull even more from within her jacket. He finally took it, pocketing it and leading her into the living room, where she sat one the small sofa, across from him where he sat in an armchair.

"I've got lots of info this time," he said, sitting back and folding his hands.

"Well, spit it out. I have to be back to my hotel by nightfall."

He snorted and folded his legs as well, sighing before beginning to speak. "I suppose I should start with Konoha. Orochimaru, one of the sannin, has apperently kidnapped one of the two remaining Uchiha, Uchiha Sasuke. Not kidnapped, I suppose, but the Uchiha chose to go to him. A group of gennin, Uzumaki Naruto included, was sent out after him, but failed the mission, and Sasuke is currently in the hands of Orochimaru. Just before that, two Akatsuki were spotted in Konoha, and they had a small skirmish with four of the Leaf jounin, Hatake Kakashi being one of them. But the Copy-ninja was beaten into submission, and had not a fourth jounin arrived, he would be dead. The two ran, vanishing, but they appeared a few days later in a small hotel located in a town just outside of Konoha. There, they tried to capture Uzumaki Naruto, but one of the sannin, Jiraiya, arrived and drove them off. They have not been spotted since."

"Why are they after Naruto?" she asked, confused. What would they want with her brother?

"The leader is currently building the power of their organization's jutsus, and is looking for new sources to draw from. The Demon Fox, Kyuubi, whithin Naruto is a powerful demon and is wanted by the leader."

"Any more info on the Akatsuki?"

"They were last spotted at a strange place, entering an abandoned cave outside of Konoha. But what was strange was that all nine were there, which hasn't happened since Orochimaru left their group. And another thing, the former leader, Ayame, is no longer leader, but second-in-command. She was beaten in a duel three weeks ago by one of the male members of the group. She now bears the ring of the White Tiger and is one level above Uchiha Itachi. According to the information I obtained, she is slowly heading down in the Akatsuki heirarchy due to some kind of disease or sickness that will soon kill her."

He paused here, waiting to see if she had any questions to ask, and when he got no answer, he continued on. "Then to the Cloud, I suppose. A large earthquake occured there, and the shores were trashed by two tsunami's, although not many people died. Your brother is alright. There is some kind of secret activity running through the village. My sources can't quite place what it is, but I assumed that they might be getting ready for some kind of war or battle.

"Now for what I wanted to really tell you. Konoha has seen you as a threat, and believes you were the one to force someone called Higure Akisu, the son of Higure Ayame, to leave the village. I understand that he is here in the village with you now, right? Konoha had raised you to the rank of missing-ni-"

"What!? But they can't do that until I turn sixteen!"

"I'm not done. It gets worse, much, much worse. They have raised your rank to a missing-nin from both the Cloud and the Leaf, where you will be hunted and killed if the Hunter-nin see your face. You were originally a B-ranked missing-nin, and Akisu a C-ranked missing-nin, but something happened. Information reached my ears that said you had killed a group of fifteen missing-nin wanted in several countries. That group, Demoni, originally had two, S-ranked missing-nin. What you did not know when you killed them was that there were four at the time, plus one high A-ranked. This group had killed all Hunter-nin they encountered and were almost as big a threat as the Akatsuki were, and by killing them I thought they would count that as a good deed. But apperently not. You are now an S-ranked Missing-nin in Konoha and in the Cloud, and Akisu is an A-ranked criminal. If you are found out in any village, they will not hesitate to attack and kill you."

She was frozen to the sofa, staring at Shinji in disbelief. _That... That's impossible. A few days ago I was not a missing-nin, was I? How...How can it... How can thigs change so quickly? Aniki said when I turned sixteen.... But right now, right now... S ranked..._

'But don't worry, the Hunter-nin are only around their own villages in thick numbers. Perhaps one or two squads from either village will be doing the actual hunting, the others have other criminals to deal with."

"You're not helping, Shinji," she said blandly. The word 'criminal' had an odd ring to it. _Is that what I am? _she thought, relaxing. It hadn't hit her as hard as she had expected. Perhaps because she was with Akisu, and had him to keep her company. It was now official, Akisu was the only thing keeping her from having a mental breakdown and losing herself.

"Is that all?" she asked, breaking her chain of thought and looking back towards Shinji.

"About it... In the Stone, tonight there is a festival. The Winter Festival, for the first snow of this winter."

"Festival...?" _Maybe I could get Akisu to go with me and get Neko to leave us alone for a minute_, she thought, her personality changing from depressed to content in a matter of seconds. "I'm gonna get going," she said, standing. Shinji remained seated, she knew her way out having been there hundreds of times.

"Be careful, Mitsuji. Watch out for hunter-nin," he warned as she opened the door. She said nothing, closing it behind her and heading back out of the building, back into the falling snow. As she looked up above the streets, she could see people securing strings of lanterns, all of which were an odd, crystal blue, the same colour as her eyes. There were more people out on the streets now, weaving in and out of stores, talking quietly on street corners, not that they seemed to notice her as she slowly made her way towards the hotel. The sun was beginning to set behind the clouds, and the world was darkening quickly, but she felt no inclination to speed up. She was thinking about the festival, and what she would say to Akisu.

* * *

Akisu sat with his back up against the wall, thankful that Neko had left him alone finally. The heating in the hotel was up quite high, and he was sweating heavily, despite the fact his jacket lay abandoned on the floor and that he was only in his dark-blue t-shirt. He groaned from the heat, leaning further back. _When is Rei coming back? It's been an hour or more, and its dark out. What could possibly take her so long?_

After a few more moments of sitting there, he could no longer take it. He ripped his dark-blue shirt off over his head, throwing it onto his jacket and opening the window as far as its hinges would allow. He hung his head out the window for a few moments before sighing and pulling back in, moving back to his bed and sitting at the foot. But he had only a few seconds of relaxation before the door was pushed open and a black cat darted in, kicking the door closed behind it and exploding into a puff of smoke, replaced by Neko.

"I thought Rei told you to stay in that cat form, didn't she?" asked Akisu, looking up at her.

"Rei-sama doesn't mean what she says... She's wandering around town in the cold right now," said Neko, falling into an animal-like crouch on the floor and yawning. Akisu stood, worried about Rei, and headed towards the door. But Neko stood suddenly, blocking his path.

"Please move," he said, trying to get around her. But she moved to block his path.

"I don't think she wants to talk to you right now, Akisu-sama," she said seriously.

"Wh-what? Is she mad at me?"

"No, just frustrated."

"Why?"

Neko glared at him, her face contorting in anger. He took a few steps back, confused. "Wh-what is it, then?" he stammered.

"Are you that thick-headed?" She snapped, taking a step forwards.

"...What do you mean?" he stammered, backing up until the backs of his legs were pressing into the foot of his bed again.

"Baka!" she shouted, stepping further forwards and causing him to fall back onto the bed and back up slightly. What was she talking about? Neko jumped onto the end of the bed, glaring him with her striking eyes as he squirmed further away, until he was up against the wall.

"What!?" he nearly shouted, after a long silence.

"She likes you."

"Wh-what?" he stammered, cocking an eyebrow and staring out at her. She growled angrily and jumped forwards, landing hard on his stomach and punching him in the face hard, causing his head to slam into the wall behind him.

"Itai..." he moaned, squeezing his eyes shut and rubbing his head. When he opened them, Neko's glaring face was inches from his.

"You're stupid," she declared flat-out. "Baka."

"What are you talking about? What about Rei?"

"Baka baka baka... She's been trying to tell you for the past few days. You really haven't noticed!?"

_I...I have... _"You keep butting in at the last second, so how would I know what she was trying to tell me!?"

"I do? Doesn't matter, I'm leaving today anyways. You two are boring." She leaned closer, examining him. "You really don't have a clue, do you?"

* * *

Rei sighed, turning down the hall while clutching her walkman in her left hand. She paused outside the door to their room, thinking. _A girl doesn't ask a guy out on a date usually, right? I guess they could if they wanted to, right? Ugh... I'll just... tell him to go with me. _She sighed again, twitching nervously before pushing the door open.

She nearly dropped her walkman at the sight before her. Neko was out of her cat form and laying on top of Akisu, who's shirt was laying on the ground beside the bed. The two noticed her enter but remained frozen, inches from eachother's faces, not wanting to turn around. But Akisu snapped out of it first, shoving the cat girl off of him and standing, taking a step towards her.

"Rei, you're back..." He took another step towards her, and she backed up into the hall, backing against the opposite wall. Her mouth was slightly open and her eyes were darting between Akisu and Neko.

"Rei-sama," she moaned, slapping her head. "I forgot about you..."

Her mouth tightened into a thin line and she narrowed her eyes, stepping slightly into the room and grabbing her bag, before shouldering it and turning around fully. She brushed past the frozen Akisu and headed down the hall in silence, eyes focused ahead of her and refusing to look at him.

"Rei, please wait!" he said, dashing back inside to grab his shirt. By the time he dashed back out, she had vanished.

Rei was running, running as fast as she could until she got outside, shoving through the doors and into the streets which were filled with people from the festival. She was grinding her teeth angrily, caught between crying or screaming in frustration. But she refused to make any noise, although tears still leaked down her cheeks, almost freezing in the cold. She looked around for a few moments before running to her right, heading out of town in the snow. As she ran, the snowflakes around her seemed to be weighed down, slowly turning to slush and spattering on her cheeks.

"Rei! Wait!"

She didn't turn to look behind her, but she slowed down after another few moments of running, eventually stopping in the deep snow just outside the town. She was no longer crying, but her eyes were narrowed in anger, her mouth still a thin line. She adjusted her grip on the bag and removed her headphones, getting her mind under control before turning towards Akisu.

"Don't follow me," she said in a dangerous voice. She could see him struggle between moving forwards or baking away, and she was aware that she was glaring viciously at him.

"Rei, it's not... Neko was just telling me something."

"I don't care what you say. I'm leaving. I hate that damn cat. Tell her to go back to the Rain or whatever. Just to tell you, we're both missing-nin. I have nowhere to go, and neither do you," she said in an extremely quiet voice. It had started to rain. She shook the droplets from her hair, reaching into her bag and pulling out her Leaf hiate. She pulled off her walkman as well, holding them out before her and closing her eyes.

"Don't follow me." She dropped them, watching as they sunk a few inches into the snow before turning away and holding out her left hand. A yellow orb, its glow dulled in the rain, appeared at her fingertips. Akisu opened his mouth to say something, but she shifted sudenly, and the snow at her feet kicked up, sweeping her away quickly and replacing her body with snowflakes.

_Here we stand in ravishing rain,  
__Joy is like pain,  
__It feels like a miracle.  
__You can't turn back, your in chains.  
__Never again return from a Cynical world._

_If you feel you've loved me in vain,  
__Why not re-live your guilty love affair?  
__In the warm breeze you will cry,  
__Again and again,  
__That's fate for a criminal._

_Good intentions lost in thin air,  
__You were craving for affection,  
__And a certain invitation,  
__Led you here to me  
__In the Cynical world._

_No one but me in this cold place,  
__ (Here we stand in ravishing rain....)  
__I will love and serve you criminal.  
__That's your final consolation  
__ (Never again return from a cynical....)  
__Now hang on to me,  
__In the Cynical World._


	8. Chapter 8

Rei sat high up in the branches of a tree, her legs pulled up to her chest as she stared off into space, thinking about what she had done. _I don't want to go back_, she thought, pulling her legs closer She was no longer within the borders of the Earth country, but somewhere within the Wind, in the northern part. There was no snow here. She sighed, grinding her teeth in frustration as she pulled her bag closer to her, rummaging through it before stopping and sighing again. She was out of food.

She could surely get by in the middle of nowhere without food, she knew from experience where to find it and what was edible, but that wasn't her only problem. She knew that, alone, she stood no chance against the Hunter-nin that were supposedly after her. There was safety in numbers, and right now her number was one. One did not stand a chance against a four-man team of hunter-nin._ How can I possibly be an S-ranked missing-nin? I can't go anywhere! If I'm recognized, I'll be killed. A missing-nin cannot reverse things and become accepted back into a village. I need others to stay with or hide with.... But who? I'm not going back to Him. Never. But who else is there?_ One name formed in her mind slowly, the tendrils curling up like smoke from the darkest part of her mind and forming into letters.

Akatsuki. The red moon. Dawn, daybreak... All the same thing, the group of S-ranked missing-nin she had been running from for most of her life. They wanted the Ikichi, they wanted the Aohane, they wanted her dead. _Or did they? If... If I joined them, would they still want to kill me? _She sat back further, picturing the scene in her mind. _"Hello, my name is Rei and I want to join you!" "Oh, really? Welcome to the club, we've got jackets!"_ She scoffed, _like that would ever happen_. Who else could she go to? The Demoni were dead, she and Akisu had killed them all. There were a few other missing-nin she knew of, none of which she felt inclined to approach, and she knew that none of them liked her very much. _But really_, she thought, _what would the Akatsuki do? What if I bluffed? Told them that I'd tell others about them, sell their information. No, that's already part of the reason they want to kill me. Because I know too much about them. If I went up to them and said that, they'd kill me. _

She sat forwards and reached into her shirt, pulling out the Ikichi. It was swirling a thousand different colours as usual, mixing together, splitting apart and repeating over and over. When she was young, she had spent long moments simply staring at it. She was the only one able to use it, the only one able to control the orbs. She couldn't let the Akatsuki have it. But... _If I let them have me and tell them that it means they posess the Ikichi and Aohane as well, then wouldn't they let me join? I just... can't picture it... Me walking into the middle of a group of the nine most dangerous and wanted criminals on earth. What if they simply killed me without letting me speak first? And on top of that, I'd have to locate their leader, Ayame.... No, not Ayame. There's a new leader... Did Shinji tell me who it was? No... Who could it be? I only know a few of the Akatsuki by name... There's Higure Ayame, Uchiha Itachi and Hoshigaki Kisame... I forget that other guy's name..._ She froze, thinking about the Uchiha. _If he's the leader now, I have no chance of getting near them. He is too strong.... But there are two people stronger than him in the organization. It's just that he's insane. I think... he was the one who killed the Uchiha clan._

She shifted slightly and slid off the tree branch, falling for several feet before landing in a crouch and standing. She looked around, turning north, then east, south and west, before turning back north. _But right now... WHere should I go? I... I don't want to go near anywhere He might be._ She narrowed her eyes as she thought of Akisu, but waved it off, refusing to think about him. She paused to think about where to go next. She could not chance getting too close to a village, and going to either the Fire or Lighting country was very dangerous. But the Akatsuki would most likely be near Konoha somewhere, since they were after Naruto and the Kyuubi. She turned southeast, looking in the direction of the Fire country. If she went too close to Konoha, it would be too dangerous, there would be too many Hunter-nin. But the Akatsuki were last sighted there. _I can't believe I'm gonna do this._

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

She had not, at the time, been looking for Akatsuki. She had been asleep on a tree branch high above the forest floor. She had not found them. They had found her. She had heard voices below her at around five in the morning, and woken up to see shadows moving below her, whispering as they arranged themselves into a rough circle. She had almost cried out when she saw there were nine shadows, and each was wearing the same black and red cost. Right now, she was holding her breath and keeping as quiet as she could above them, suprised they had not sensed her yet. The sun was beginning to rise.

"Orochimaru may have the Sharingan in his posession...yeah. But we are numbered nine, he is one, if we all fight together, he will be killed... yeah."

"Yes... We have three years still to prepare. He has already taken up a new body, not your brother's, Itachi."

"But what about the Kyuubi?"

"The Kyuubi can wait. Naruto-kun has gone off training with one of the Sannin, Jiraiya. The other two are also training, Orochimaru is training his new body, and the third Sannin, and Godaime Hokage, Tsunade, is training another, the third member of the gennin team, Haruno Sakura. If this continues, they will be as strong as the Sannin, like the next generation. This could be a problem since it will mean there will be six legends alive at the same time. If Orochimaaru wages war on Konoha at that time and wins, who knows what will happen."

"We also have to decide what we're going to do about the Aohane and the Hikaru. And the Ikichi. There are also a few more jutsu we haven't learned." Rei's eyes widened slightly as she heard this quiet voice speaking. It sounded like Ayame. But if it was, she was, indeed, very, very sick and worn out.

"If we could kill Raine then we could steal the Ikichi, but we would lose the Aohane...yeah. We need Raine alive in order to get the Aohane and the appropriate information...yeah."

"While we prepare for the war three years from now, we can split up and hunt down the other sources we're looking for at the moment."

"Kariudo, there are some other things we found out about Raine and Akisu-kun."

"What is it?"

"We confirmed that they were travelling together. They were last spotted in the Stone for some reason. But... We found out some other things about them. Theyare now missing-nin, Akisu an A-ranked and suprisingly enough, Raine is an S-ranked missing-nin wanted in both the Leaf and the Cloud."

"S-ranked? What could she have done to get that under her name?"

"She killed Demoni along with Akisu-kun."

"Killed? All of them?" She could hear the change in his voice as he said this. There was a long pause before he began speaking again. "Then she has become of more importance to us. We should find her and Akisu-kun quickly."

"Will we be splitting up today?"

"Perhaps... I will be making up new two-man teams though, we need to work quickly to find her and the Aohane."

The sun had almost fully risen now, and Rei was tiring of listening to them speak about her. She was going to get down and spweak to them. I can't believe I have to resot to this, she thought, shifting slightly. They still hadn't noticed her. She took a deep breath, steadying herself and sliding from the branch. She fell freely for a few moments, landing in a crouch in the dead center of the circle. Ther was a stunned, suffocating silence, even the birds seemed to stop singing. The nine figures around her were not showing any suprise, but were staring at her blackly. She lifted her head and looked up at the one she assumed to be the leader, Kariudo.

"Raine..."

"You've got a lot of nerve turning up here, Raine," said one of the other Akatsuki to her left. She stood, shouldering her bag.

'You were so noisy you woke me up," she said, pointing above her to the branch she had come from. the leader narroed his eyes, wondering why she would land in their midst.

"Why are you here? You know we'll just kill you," he said finally, looking her directly in the eyes. She did not flinch as he said this, but stared fearlessly back at him.

"I'll give you what you want... information, the Ikichi, the Aohane... whatever you want."

There was another stunned silence, and the leader only narrowed his eyes further, trying to see the reason behind her offer. "Under what condition?"

She smiled slighty, still looking him in the eyes. Inside she was suprised none of the Akatsuki had made a move to attack her yet. They hadn't even tried to capture her even. "I'll give them to you, if you let me join the Akatsuki."

He laughed. She had expected him to. A few of the other members laughed as well, but she kept her gaze fixed on Kariudo until his laughter died down. "You... Want to join the Akatsuki. The Akatsuki is no place for a fifteen-year-old girl. You can't simply walk up to us and expect us to let you join."

"You think I'm weak," she stated simply. She reached up to her neck and removed the ikichi, dangling it before her. "I am the only one who is able to control the Ikichi. if you killed me and took it, it would be a useless piece of jewelry. The only way you would be able to wield it is if you wielded me. Then, you would posess the Ikichi, the Aohane, and a wealth of information."

The leader said nothing, simply staring at her. She knew he hadn't known that about the Ikichi, that she was the only one able to wield it. "You still don't understand. We can't let you simply join us. Look around you. These are the nine most wanted shinobi in the Bingo book. They are many levels above your level. They have stained their hands many times in blood. We cannot simply let you join."

Rei paused, thinking. "If I were to beat one of you, would you let me join?"

"You wouln't be able to. Like I said, we are all many levels above you."

"Prove it," she challenged, still glaring at him. He stared at her for a few moments, before his face broke into a faint smile.

"We only need one kunoichi here. If you can beat Ayame we will acknowledge you."

Rei turned her eyes towards Ayame. _They are cruel. 'We only need one kunoichi here'? Ayame is sick, won't this be an unfair battle?_ She looked Ayame over. She was strikingly beatiful, almost as beautiful as her mother had been. She had long, black hair kept tied back in a ponytail and a face that was a more femenine replica of Akisu's. She had bloodthirsty, red eyes that were currently glaring down at Rei. Her mouth was covered by a strip of cloth and she had small bags under her eyes. As Rei looked closer, she could see that Ayame's hair was dull and her skin sickly pale, evidence of whatever sickness she had come down with. On her left hand's little finger she wore a ring with the kanji for 'empty' on it. _Empty?_ Rei eyed her for a moment longer. _She used to be the leader, the one with the kanji for 'Blue' on her ring. Shinji told me she last had the kanji for 'White', but now she has dropped another three levels. If i beat her, I will be above four others._

The other members backed up a few feet, save for Ayame who remained in her same place. The two kunoichi glared at eachother for a few moments, sizing eachother up. _No_, thought Rei, they are not being cruel. _This is a fair fight. She is better than i am, and used to be Akatsuki's leader. I had better start thinking like them soon, because she will not be fighting fairly, and the others will not treat me fairly either._

She let her bag slip to the ground as she replaced the Ikichi around her neck. She could feel the other eight Akatsuki staring at her intently as twenty-four orbs appeared around her. She had only fought Ayame once before, and she had not been serious about it. At the moment, she was wondering what her abilities were. _Please don't be genjutsu, please don't be genjutsu, please don't be genjutsu...._ She waited for Ayame to make the first move. She undid her Akatsuki robe, letting it slide to the ground and revealing a completely black shinobi outfit beneath.

Her hands flew into a series of complicated series and Rei jumped back a few feet at the sudden movement, watching as Ayame finished the string of seals. "Doton: Doro Kaen no Jutsu," she sad quietly after pulling away the cloth in front of her face. The dirt around her shot up circling her once before bursting into flame and heading towards Rei. She flipped back as a pink orb shot out before her.

"Sekiton: Chakura no Seki!" Chakra spun outwards from the orb in a wide wall, completely blocking the flaming dirt from hitting her. _Looks like this will be a battle of Ninjutsu_, she thought, watching as Ayame formed a few more seals.

"Tsuchi Bunshin no Jutsu." The ground around Ayame bulged upwards as many replicas of herself crawled from the ground, each pulling out a kunai and taking a step back as they faced her.

"Doton: Tsuchi Neko-te."

Rei spun around as a giant, clawed hand broke from the ground behind her, slamming down on the place she had been moments before. As she flipped back, the clones charged towards her, bringing a number of kunai towards her. She hit the ground and flipped around using her left hand, her shoulder screaming in pain from the wound which was still located there. She kicked the first clone in the jaw and it crumbled, sending bits of earth flying everywhere as she brought her legs around in a wide arc, sweeping two more clones off their feet before slamming them in the chests and causing them to vanish as well. She grabbed one's wrist as it attempted to slash her shoulder, twisting it and flipping it behind her into another, both vanishing. Another burst from the ground beneath her, catching her off guards and nearly opening the inside of her calf with its kunai, but she shifted, placing one foot in fron and the other behind the arm before spinning and breaking it off. _These clones just keep coming_, she complained inwardly, kicking another clone in the stomach while dodging a number of shuriken. _I need to concentrate on offense, this battle is going no where._

A red orb flew to her side as she jumped back, making a few quick seals. "Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!" She took a deep breath, holding the last seal up to her mouth before breathing out, sending a large stream of fire towards the clones and the original Ayame, who was frantically making a number of seals.

"Kokuangyo no Jutsu," muttered Ayame, just as the flame reached her. The world suddenly fell into complete darkness, darkness so thick and suffocating that the fire from Rei's fireball was invisible through it._ Damnit_, she thought, listening to the sudden silence. _This is Genjutsu. Just what I needed_. She brought up her hands, eyes darting around.

"Kai!" Nothing. She lowered her hands. This level of Genjutsu is too high for me to cancel, she thought, looking around. The silence was almost suffocating her, but was it complete silence? She strained her ears, picking up a slight noise.

_"Inu, tori, oushi, nezu, saru, tora, tori..." What is it?_ She strained her ears further, tilting her head to hear better._ "Hebi, nezu, hebi, nezu, tori, tora, tora, ryu, ryu, nezu..."_

_Those are seals! _She frantically jumped back, falling into a wide stance and calling the orbs around her. Although she couldn't see, she could sense them around her. _I don't want to know what kind of jutsu requires that many seals, _she thought, bringing up her own hands and looking around cautiously. She made a long string of seals, listening carefully and bracing as Ayame's muttering stopped abruptly.

"Nijushi Youso Betsushori Kyuutai; Kamiseki no Jutsu."(Twenty-four Elemental Orbs; Divine Barrier) She threw out her hands on either side of her, closing her eyes and concentrating, forcing the twenty-four orbs around her into a spinning whirlwind of chakra that completely surrounded her. Nothing had ever been able to break through this barrier. There was nothing but silence for the longest time, until she heard the earth cracking. Below her.

_Underneath!? _The barrier did not cover that part. She hadn't thought it neccessary. Ayame burst from under her, her hands glowing in a type of red chakra as Rei jumped away just in time to avoid being cut in half. But that, apperently, was not the jutsu. As she hit the ground, it reacted to her touch and several spiked shot up around her, one catching her thigh lightly and the other... her poor left shoulder. Again. She flipped back just in time to avoid being impaled, touching the ground for only a second before springing away. She had to keep moving. As she ran, she threw out her right hand, calling a orange orb towards her. She could still not see where she was going.

She made a few quick seals as she ran before forcing the orb before her. "Genton: Haru Hikari no Jutsu!" Light, this time visible through the dark, shot out from the orb, reigning light on the world again just as she nearly ran into a tree. She jumped and flipped off the tree just as the wood shot out in spikes towards her, almost catching her again. It wasn't just the ground, everything she touched tried to impale her, stone, tree, earth, and even a puddle of water. And as if to frustrate her, Ayame was simply standing in the middle of it all as if it were a one-sided battle. _Damnit, this isn't a battle you can relax in, Ayame. I am not at this low of a level._

Black, shining, metal armour shot out over her clothing, covering her body as she released as much of the Aohane her body would allow. She flipped back the top part of the black helmet to see more clearly with a new set of crimson eyes. She could feel every change in her body, the wound on her leg and shoulder closing slightly as new chakra pumped through her body. Her legs sped up, causing her to portray inhuman speed as she changed directions. The metal below her elbows and knees melted upwards into spikes, along with the thin metal covering her fingers, which grew into long, thin blades. She left the spikes of earth far behind as she pushed her body to the limit, speeding up and plunging directly towards Ayame, who had a slightly suprised look on her pale face.

Ayame brought up her hands, stopping the jutsu and bringing up two, long daggers, blocking as Rei hit her with incredible force. She was no longer in full control of her body, the Aohane had at least half of her mind at the moment. And the Aohane wanted to rip Ayame apart at the moment. They clashed at a furious pace, perhaps too fast for the other Akatsuki to keep up with, meeting in midair and falling back before launching themselves at eachother again. Ayame was quickly tiring, not being able to keep up with the Aohane's speed. She lost her footing, stumbling back, and the Aohane took the chance to slam her back into a tree that was inches away from the leader, Kariudo. He did not flinch as she charged Ayame, skidding to a halt inches from the tree and spinning around, slamming her elbow into the woman's stomach. The spike that had grown from below her elbow drove clean through her stomach and she pulled it out, turning and forming a blade of chakra around her already clawed hand. She ran this blade quickly across her neck, killing her mercilessly and splattering blood over both her and the leader.

The Aohane's form slowly receded, leaving Rei breathing heavily and looking over what she had done. Blood was soaking her hands and arms as she let Ayame's body slide to the ground. She showed no emotion as she took a deep breath, turning to the leader. He was smiling faintly, wiping speckles of blood from his cheek.

"Impressive," he said quietly as she wiped the blood from her hands. "Ayame was still quite powerful, even though she was sick. She should have been able to beat you."

"Let me join," she said simply, getting straight to the point.

"Fine. You've proved yourself. But there is no escape from this organization once you join." Kariudo moved with lightning speed, faster than even the Aohane's, slamming her back into the tree above where Ayame lay. His hand covered her entire face, catching her off guard, and it began to burn her skin. He brought up his other hand and made a number of one-handed seals, the burning reaching a climax before he pulled his hand away, letting her head drop to look down at Ayame. Ayame's face, her eyes still wide open, had red markings burned across it, but they were slowly fading, burning across her own forehead. As if he were a psychic, he lifted her bag from the ground, pulling out her Cloud hiate and holding his other hand up to it. A deep gash spread across its surface, a new pain exploding through her mind, but she refused to make any noise. When he pulled his hand away from the hiate, the pain stopped abruptly.

"What was that for?" she asked in an annoyed tone.

"It was a seal to make you permanently a part of the organization. If you try to run, it will activate."

_Then how did Orochimaru...? _"What about Orochimaru's seal then?"

Kariudo handed her the hiate and she took it weakly. "Orochimaru is not human. He made up a jutsu that can unseal it and freed himself."

She pushed off the tree, coughing a few times and rubbing her temples, before pulling her hiate on bandana style and tying it securely. _What have I gotten myself into now? _She thought, dropping her hands and looking around at the other eight Akatsuki. _I'm even more trapped than I was before._

* * *

_A/N: Yeah, I have a science fair project due in two weeks that i should maybe start on soon, so yeah... and the next chapter is half finished and confusing, but i dunno if i'll finish this week. I have French, Math, Socials, Science, and English projects due, plus Math, French and English tests this week and next week, so i'm really really busy..._


	9. Chapter 9

She had changed a lot since she had been accepted into the organization. She had long forgotten the name 'Rei', her only name now was Raine, what the other members called her. Her body and mind were numb most of the time, she had no feeling and felt no emotion towards anything or anyone. She was almost a double of Itachi, minus the complete insantiy that came when he got excited. Akatsuki had been laying low for the past two years, but it was now the last year before Orochimaru would begin moving. They were heading to one of their last meetings, the last meeting before the time they would meet in order to discuss battle plans for Orochimaru's move on Konoha and the Fire country.

She doubted anyone other than those in the Akatsuki would recognize her now. Her beauty surpassed even that of her mother's, the Lady Raikage. Her hair was a long wave of ebony that was soft and silky, reaching well past her waist. She wore her Cloud hiate around her forehead in the traditional style instead of her previous bandana style. She had little colour to her smooth, pale skin, but it was not sickly or unhealthy-looking, instead it almost glowed. But the skin on her face was broken, a short, bright red scar on her right cheek, just under her right eye. It was a reminder of who was in charge in the Akatsuki, and she would never again argue with Kariudo. He was much more powerful than her. She had not moved up in the heirarchy of the Akatsuki, but she had not moved down either. On the little finger of her left hand she still bore the ring with the kanji for 'Empty' on it, the ring that had formerly belonged to Higure Ayame, and to Orochimaru as well some time before that. She was both the shortest and youngest in the organization, but she had grown considerably stronger in the past two years, and was in the middle of the rankings, with four people above her and four below her. Right now she was preparing for the last leg of the journey towards a meeting place just outside of the Cloud.

"Raine, let's go," came a voice from below. For the last two months she had been paired off with Itachi. She was edgy and uncomfortable around him, but he was better than some of the others she had been paired off with on previous dates. But he was one of the most dangerous, posessing the Sharingan at its highest level. He also had a jumpy mind- on the outside he seemed quiet and reserved, and he knew when to speak and when to keep quiet. He could think clearly in dangerous and potentially life-threatening situations. But sometimes, something in his head snapped and he would go crazy. It was a good thing that this only happened in battles, otherwise she would have refused to go anywhere near him. And she knew now in detail what had happened to his clan. He had killed them, every last one save for his brother, at the age of thirteen. What suprised her further was the fact that he was, technically, still on a chuunin level, since he had left the village when he was an Anbu captain at chuunin level. but in their organization levels meant nothing, and the top five, herself included, would pose problems for even Kages. In fact, Kariudo could probably have easily taken on the Third Hokage, which Orochimaru had defeated with the cost of his arms and jutsus.

"Yes, Itachi-san." She slid from her tree branch, landing silently on the forest floor below. It was a two hour's walk to the meeting place from their current position. She brushed her long, black hair out of her face, thowing it over her shoulders and keeping it out of the way. She could feel the Ikichi around her neck, inside of her shirt and her Akatsuki trenchcoat. There had been much arguement over her, the Ikichi and the Aohane, but she had been able to keep the small piece of jewelry and the store of chakra that was the Aohane. She was now able to fully harness the Aohane's power, after Kariudo had unsealed the five element seal that was over her two four-seasons seals on her stomach. He had been the one to place the seal over it many years before, when she had fought him once. She was now able to make a full transformation and was able to fully utilize the Aohane's chakra, and when needed, she fell back onto these abilities as her last resort.

The Akatsuki had been fairly active in the past few years, nothing too drastic, but they had been moving around in groups of two, with Kariudo working on his own. They had been doing mostly information gathering and monitering the movements of countries or certain people. But now, before they went to battle with the Leaf and Orochimaru, they were going to bring it all together. Each person in the organization equally shared in the jutsus learned by others, but the more powerful things were for Kariudo and possibly only the more powerful members only. This meeting, Kariudo would decide their last groups, for the rest of the year, and assign them their last missions.

After an hour and a half of walking through the forest, the sun finally broke through the trees above, dimly lighting the forest. Travelling with Itachi was almost enough to drive you insane. He never spoke unless it was absolutely neccessary, or when something interested him. She was currently seventeen, Itachi was nineteen, and they were the youngest members along with one other. She was, technically, on a lower level than Itachi. After thinking about it, she had realized she was not even at the level of Acadamy Student yet. She had never once set foot into the acadamy, but had always been personally trained. At seven, her brother had given her his hiate. Technically, she wasn't even a ninja. She just knew how to use ninjutsu, genjutsu and taijutsu well.

"This is it," he said quietly, stopping. Below them, at the bottom of a fairly steep cliff, was a small, dark pit. She had been here several times before to meet with Kariudo, but never with the entire number of the Akatsuki, four or five at the most. She held out her hands in silence, her gloved fingertips slipping out from the baggy sleeves of her trenchcoat as two, dull yellow orbs appeared before her. One moved towards Itachi and she jumped onto the other, controlling it easily and lowering them into the darkness. She had learned how to control the Ikichi almost fully now, and although the most orbs she could use at once was still twenty-four, she no longer had to make one for each element. She could make twenty-four Air orbs if she wanted, or sixteen Fire orbs and eight Light orbs, any combination, as long as there were no more than twenty-four in total. She controlled the two Air orbs down until they reached the bottom of the pit, where they vanished and the two Akatsuki dropped a few feet, landing on the cold stone in crouches. Her eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness as they stood and stepped forwards.

Stalagmites and stalagtites grew up from the floor and hung from the ceiling around them, and the steady drip of water was audible through the darkness. They walked in silence for a few moments, until they came to the center of the cave where several other shadows were already waiting, a few of the speaking quietly to eachother. She looked around in the darkness as she came to a halt, slightly further away from the rest of the group than the others were. From her current position, she could pick out the features of the ones around her.

To her left stood the person who was one level below her, Hoshigaki Kisame. She greatly disliked him, not only for his personality, but for his appearance as well. His skin was a pale blue colour and he had slits on his face that she assumed to be gills. His eyes were small and beady, like fish eyes, and for teeth he had a number of triangular points that made him looke like a shark, or a samebito. Across his back he carried a giant, chakra-absorbing sword, wrapped in bandages. She had seen the surface of the sword many times before, and had her left shoulder torn open twice by it, and it was not an actual blade, more of a collection of sharp, serrated scales that were meant to tear instead of slice. He was originally from the Wave country, and was one of the Hidden Mist's Seven Swordsman. He had a ring on his left ring finger with the kanji for 'South' on it.

Directly beside him stood Kaitou Akage, a former jounin from the Sand. He was the one who originally took up Orochimaru's place when he left the organization, starting at the bottom, but working his way up to seventh in their rankings. He had flaming red hair that was cut short and a pair of lazy-looking brown eyes. He was actually not very strong, not at all, but he was uncannily intelligent and resourceful, and that, together with his speed, were a dangerous combination. He was difficult to deal with in battles because he memorizes and recognizes patterns and concepts after seeing them once only, and after that he never forgets. That is why he was an important part of the organization, because once he sees a jutsu, he will remember it to pass it on to the others. On his left hand's middle finger he wore the ring with the kanji for 'North' on it.

A few feet away from Akage stood Fummetsu Kageru, probably the most consistantly mysterious of their number. She knew hardly anything about him. He was the most consistently secretive member, even Itachi finally told her about what had happened to his clan, but Kageru said hardly anything about anything. She knew he had a bloodline, a bloodline that allowed him to control the fire and water elements. He had bizzarre eyes, each of his eyes split between red and blue, and when he activated his bloodline, they would begin to spin, making his eyes look almost purple. He was a former chuunin of the Sand, and always wore a raven's feather in his hiate for some reason. On the index finger of his left hand he wore a ring with the kanji for 'Three,' which meant he was eighth in the rankings of their organization.

The person behind him, and the lowest ranking person in Akatsuki, was Daiku Tsutomu. He was freakishly large, which was the first thing she had noticed about him, towering almost two feet taller than herself. He relied on brute strength to accomplish things, and wasn't incredibly smart, but he had a bloodline as well. It allowed him to make a weapon out of anything he wished. For example, once she had been paired with him on a mission to the Grass, and he had picked up a treebranch during a fight and somehow it had turned into a spear. To her, it appeared as if he enjoyed being at the bottom of the organization, he never tried to fight for a higher position. Originally from the Stone as a jounin, he wore the ring with the kanji for 'Jade' on his left hand's thumb.

She turned her head to the right, where the people that ranked higher than her stood. The closest was the person who ranked fourth, one rank above her. Or, rather than stood, he hung from the ceiling, like a bat. His name was Kohaku Koumori, and was the only member that was not originally from one of the five great shinobi countries, being from the Rain. He probably scared her as much, if not more, than Itachi for several reasons. He had a bloodline, for starters, that granted him bat-like qualities. _Or more vampire like_, she thought, shivering slightly. He used his looks and talk to get close to women, before he would drink their blood to obtain extra chakra. He had the largest store of chakra in the organization at the moment by far. He was one of the more important members of the organization, at least as important as Itachi. Itachi had the Sharingan, and could copy techniques. Koumori needed only for a drop of his enemy's blood to land in his mouth, and he would be able to tell anything about them: gender, age, jutsus, if they had a bloodline, etc... He was the second most intelligent in their group and heavily relied on his instincts to get him by in battles and life. She looked him over closely, studying his face. He had small, well-defined features, medium-length black hair that hung in his face due to the fact he was upside-down, and his eyes were odd, one black and beady and the other dull, glazed over and grey almost. On the little finger of his right hand he wore the ring with the kanji for 'Black' on it.

Below him stood Uchiha Itachi, slightly further away from the group as in the same manner she stood. He was someone to be feared greatly. Anyone who killed an entire clan that posessed a bloodline at the age of thirteen deserved to be feared. Kariudo favoured him for his Sharingan, which was used to collect information and learn jutsus. The fact that he could make a person relive something he had seen by using a form of genjutsu was useful for relaying information accurately. He had short black bangs in front and a longer ponytail which was not clearly visible in the back. Most of the time, his Sharingan was active, making his eyes red with three, small, comma-shaped markings in each one, but he de-activated it to save chakra, and at that time his eyes became a deep brown that could pass for black easily. He wore the ring with the kanji for 'Scarlet' on the ring finger of his right hand.

Beside him, crouched low on the ground like an animal, was Hokkou Shirotaka, probably the most sensible and normal person in the organization along with her and Kariudo. He was originally a specialized jounin from the Hidden Stone, and was most likely the most trusted shinobi in their organization for Kariudo. He was the leader's right-hand man, and was more powerful than even the Uchiha. Shirotaka has a good memory, often providing information and backing it up with evidence from past dates to prove his points. He was able to speak at any time and is usually the only one able to reason with Kariudo. Almost all of his jutsu revolved around the wind and electic element, but being as intelligent as he was, he could use them to accomplish anything. On top of his elemental attacks, he also fought like an animal, with many animal-based jutsu. Raine didn't mind being paired off with him, he spoke to her and made good decisions most of the time. He had short, silver hair that was windswept and stuck out behind him in several, neatly-pointed spikes, and his eyes were amber and wild, animal-like. On the middle finger of his right had he had the ring with the kanji on it for 'White'.

There was a hiss and a small puff of silver smoke, and at the head of the rough circle appeared Muteki Kariudo himself. He always worked alone, as the odd-man-out, and as the most powerful member in the group. It was in his eyes that he had gained most of his power. His eyes were usually a dull, brownish-red, until he activated his bloodline. It was a bloodline he had created by experimenting on himself many years ago, and it was a dangerous combination. Byakugan and Sharingan, two of the most feared bloodlines found in the Leaf. She did not know how he obtained both of them, but he was a master at using both, and when activated, his eyes became completely white with three, dark commas in each pupiless orb. He also, on top of that, knew well over a thousand jutsus from every shinobi country, and used them well along with his incredible speed and unmatched judgement. On the index finger of his right hand he wore the ring with the kanji for 'Blue' on it, signifying that he was their leader.

She shifted uncomfortably as the smoke dissipated. Meetings between all group members like this tended to be tense. One wrong word on your part, and one of the Akatsuki might attack you, or even kill you. She knew by now to never, ever look anyone above you directly in the eye, and to keep all traces of emotion out of your voice when you spoke to them. The scar under her right eye tingled slightly as she remembered the time she had stepped out of line. Kariudo had said something she had disagreed with, and she had looked him in the eye, breaking the first unspoken rule, before yelling at him. She never made that mistake again. The people above you in the Akatsuki would not hesitate to attack, and Kariudo usually didn't interfere unless it involved him in the forst place. They were, after all, a group of the world's most-wanted criminals. They would show no mercy if you angered them.

"Good," he said quietly, adjusting something in the dark. "Is everyone here?"

"Yes," said Shirotaka, shifting as well.

"Before Orochimaru makes his move, we have to prepare. There are approximately eight months until he will wage war on Konoha, so before that time, we have to pull all of the pieces together."

"Will we be going out in new groups?" asked Akage.

"Yes, I will be re-dividing you. I will be putting each of you with the person you work best with and assigning the final missions."

"Then... The things we have left to obtain are the Kyuubi, the remaining jutsu from the Stone and the scroll of jutsus from the Sand... yeah. We still need to get rid of all those who know about us, and find out what the other counrties are up to... yeah."

"But, about the Kyuubi... Naruto-kun has become much more powerful, and he is still training with the sannin, Jiraiya. How will we get past them?"

"Yes... The Kyuubi isn't neccessary to destroy Orochimaru, but we need it for after that. In order to posess everything and to become unstoppable, we will eventually have to harness the Kyuubi. I will send out two after them, but it is not expected of them to capture it, but to simply moniter their movements and measure their strength."

"What will the teams be for the rest of the year then?" asked Shirotaka from where he remained crouched on the stone floor.

"The teams... The ones who will be monitering Naruto-kun and Jiraiya will be Itachi and Kisame. You are not required to do much, simply gather information unless there is an opening for you to capture Naruto-kun and bring him to me. I will be working in the Stone learning the last jutsus. Tsutomu and Koumori will be working together in the Sand to steal the scroll of the current Kazekage. You will also be required to gather information on any battle plans they have ready for the upcoming war. I'm sure they know that it is coming.

"Akage and Kageru will be doing some spying in the Sound. I need you two to keep a close eye on Orochimaru's movements and plans for the war, and the current state of the village. Shirotaka and Raine, you two will be monitering the Cloud. Raine, you have a deep knowledge of the Cloud, and you will both be using that to investigate what they are up to. For the last while they have been preparing for something, and we need to find out their plans for the war as well."

_There's no going back now_, she thought, shifting slightly. _I don't want our plans to fail. I had better tell them..._ "There is another thing that I should tell you," she said quietly to Kariudo, avoiding looking directly at him. He turned slightly, and she could catch his dark eyes glimmering in the shadow out of the corner of her eye. To the others, she seemed to be staring at his chest, her eyes unfocussed as if she were looking through him rather than at him.

"What is it?"

"There are many more people who know about you than you think."

"Tell us."

"In the Stone there is one who knows many things about us. He knows everything from our intentions, to our abilities, to our names even. In the Cloud, Leaf, Sand and Mist there are also sources of information like this. I would think it wise to eliminate them now before any more information leaks out."

"We need names," said Akage.

"In the Stone there is Shinji, in the Leaf there is Kanzen, in the Sand there is Mikata, in the Mist there is Heion and in the Cloud there is Tsuta."

"What are their levels? Are they strong?"

"No, some of them are not even shinobi. The highest level is Tsuta in the cloud, who is a Jounin, but the others are all Chuunin or not shinobi at all."

"Then... You and Shirotaka can take care of Tsuta since you will be heading to the Cloud, Koumori and Tsutomu will take care of Mikata, and I will take care of the rest, Shinji, Kanzen and Heion. We will not be meeting again until I call for you again, which is almost a year from now. You will have plenty of time to complete your parts of this mission."

* * *

Raine took a long drag on her cigarette, her body relaxing as she closed her eyes and sent a puff of smoke into the early morning. She could not remember when she had started smoking, but it had been an exceptional replacement for coke, which she had stopped drinking years ago. They had just arrived in the Cloud, and were currently planning out their next moves. She felt much more comfortable around Shirotaka than Itachi, he wasn't insane.

"We should take care of Tsuta first. Before we continue investigating the rest of the Cloud," said Shirotaka, yawning widely. She sighed, sending a puff of smoke out once more before dropping the cigarette and grinding it into the ground. She picked up her hat, replacing it on her head and brushing the strips of cloth from her face. Shirotaka did the same, and led her away from the building, over the edge and into the streets of the Cloud.

"Which building is it?" he asked as they walked slowly down the street.

"It's just down this street," she replied quietly leading him past the shops which were just beginning to open. They walked in silence, Raine leading him finally down a small alley, heading towards the end, just before a chain-link fence where a door was. She reached forwards, turning the unlocked handle of the door and pushing it open, stepping into the dimly-lit basement.

It looked exactly as she had last seen it, completely bare, the stone walls and stone floors devoid of colour or decoration. On the far side of the room was an empty bed, neatly made with plain, off-white covers and two small pillows at the head. There was a small, bare kitchen and a single couch in the living room, but nothing other than that.

"He's not home," she said blankly, relaxing slightly. Tsuta was a Jounin, and although he was not a very high-level ninja, he was still a Jounin. And a jounin was not someone who you could simply kill, they usually put up a small fight before they died.

"We should wait here until he returns," said Shirotaka, looking around the apartment. She nodded silently, moving to the far side of the room. They stood in the far corner of the room, in the darkest shadows, barely breathing as they patiently waited. The house was completely silent, no sound whatsoever of the outside world reaching their ears. Raine's head was pounding and she closed her eyes, feeling the package of cigarettes pressing into her side as if mocking her.

But her eyes snapped open, suddenly alert as she heard voices approaching from faroff, heading towards the basement slowly. She concentrated, honing her senses and pinpointing it, calculating quickly and hearing three people approaching. She could hear Tsuta's voice, along with another man and a woman. She lowered her hat, drawing her hands inside of her trenchcoat and resting her left on a fan and her right on her weapon's pouch. The door opened.

Her guess had been accurate, but she hadn't expected three Jounin. Tsut stopped at the door, still speaking with the other two. he had long, brown hair done up in a loose ponytail, and wore a dark grey Jounin vest, along with his Cloud hiate around his forehead. The girl had dirty blonde hair and cold, grey eyes, although she seemed to smile often enough, unlike the other man. He had fairly long, black hair that was hanging over his shoulders, and seemed the type to find nothing amusing.

"I don't think Raikage-sama would do that, would he?" asked Tsuta, still holding the door open a crack and speaking outside with the other two.

"If he wanted to, he could, but I honestly don't think so," said the blonde, brushing her hair from her face. Raine froze. The dark-haired Jounin was staring directly at them. She knew he couldn't possibly see into that darkness, but if he stared long enough, his eyes would surely become accostomed and he would be able to see their shadows.

"Tsuta," he said quietly, catching the other man's attention. "Get away from the door."

"What?" he asked, turning to look behind him. Raine ground her teeth and narrowed her eyes, glaring out at them from under the straw hat, hoping they still couldn't see her. She was about to move, when Shirotaka held his hand out, stopping her. He was staring intently at the threesome.

"Is there something in there?" asked the girl, edging behind the dark-haired , Shizen!" snapped the dark-haired man suddenly, throwing out his arm. He had spotted them. Shirotaka moved with incredible speed, dropping to the floor like an animal and pulling out a large knife from within his trenchcoat. Before the girl could run, he sent it directly at her, the blade burying deep into her chest. She almost cried out, but instead slumped to the ground, eyes open in shock.

Raine dashed forwards as well, sending three shuriken at Tsuta, who knocked them away woth three kunai, jumping back into the street. She and Shirotaka dashed out, stopping in the alley and facing them, the girl dead between them. Tsuta tore his eyes away from her body and glared at them instead. he had a kunai in each hand, and was tense, unlike the two Akatsuki who were simply standing there, facing them in silence.

"Who are you!? What are Akatsuki doing in the Cloud?" snarled Tsuta, gripping his weapons tighter. She looked him directly in the eye, and knew exactly what he was thinking. He knew he stood no chance against her, he knew he was about to be killed. But the other man seemed more confident._ He could pose a problem_, she thought emotionlessly.

The other man suddenly moved, throwing a kunai at her, but she was ready. She whipped out her fan, catching the kunai in the paper and sending it back at him with deadly accuracy. He ducked just in time as it took a few strands of hair off, hitting the chain-link fence behind him and clattering to the ground. But she wasn't done. She brought the fan back again and opened it fully, revealing a number of senbon neatly wedged in the folds of paper. He had only a second to react before she brought it around, sending the twenty or so senbon directly at him with incredible speed. Almost all of them hit home, embedding deep into his flesh, before he disappeared in a puff of white smoke. Her eyes narrowed as she felt a kunai press into her back, and she dropped her hand, lowering it slowly and continuing to glare through the cloth hanging from her straw hat.

"Who are you?" he asked, pressing the kunai sharply into her back. Her eyes narrowed as far as they could, almost at the point of closing, but she said nothing.

"Shirotaka-san," she said slowly, in her unusually quiet voice, "you should take care of Tsuta-san before he becomes a problem."

Shirotaka grinned under his hat, reaching up and removing it to reveal his silver-haired head. He raised his hands and tensed his fingers as if they were claws, which they soon became. Chakra, visible to even the others, surrounded his fingers, turning each into a deadly blade and making his hands into lethal weapons. The blade at her back broke through the coat and drew blood from her flesh, and she ground her teeth, dealing with the pain.

"Move and I'll kill her," said the man behind her. Shirotaka paused, glancing at Raine.

"Kill Tsuta," she said quietly, in the same emotionless tone. Shirotaka grinned and dashed forwards with incredible speed as Raine spun suddenly, grabbing the man's wrist and attempting to wrestle the kunai from his grasp. He produced another in the other hand and slashed across, forcing her to jump back a few feet just as Shirotaka forced past Tsuta's defense, plunging his blades of chakra into the man's neck and killing him instantly. As Tsuta hit the ground, another shadow slashed down from above, nearly catching Shirotaka on the shoulder as he ducked and sprung backwards, facing the new enemy along with Raine. there was silence again as they faced eachother.

"What are you doing in Kumogakure?" asked the new arrival, narrowing his eyes. He had the same personality as the former, dark-haired man. His hair was considerably shorter, save for his long bangs, which hung in his eyes. Raine relaxed slightly, this was getting to be more difficult than she had first thought. They were beginning to draw too much attention.

"Kenja-san," she said, adressing the one she knew, the one who had just arrived. "We do not wish to cause any problems."

Kenja grinned, his eyes widening. "How do you know me? You must have been a Cloud-nin, ne?"

She reached up and removed her hat, lowering her hand slowly and letting the hat drop to the ground softly. The two men seemed to falter for a moment as her pale, blue eyes, clouded from her emotionless years in the Akatsuki, met theirs. She knew they couldn't possibly recognize her now.

"I don't remember a woman like you ever belonging to the Cloud," said Kenja. But the other man narrowed his eyes, tensing slightly.

"Heh, you're an exact replica of the Lady Raikage. Henge?" But she knew by looking into his eyes that he knew already it was no jutsu.

She cocked her head slightly, trying to remember the name of the first man. "I am not the Raikage-sama." They had spotted her hiate as well, and their attention seemed to be focused on her. _They recognize me...?_

Shirotaka turned away, replacing his hat and turning to her. "We should go before we start something."

She nodded, picking up her own hat. "Yes, Shirotaka-san."

But something stopped her, the first man spoke suddenly. "Tsukimi."

She stopped dead in her tracks, her hand lowering before she could replace her hat fully, She turned slightly to look at the man from the corner of her eye. He had drawn a weapon, but his face was not nearly as confident as before.

"We cannot let you leave now. You are a wanted criminal." Her eyes narrowed. _That's a bit obvious, isn't it?_ But her face broke into a smile, to large and cruel for her beautiful face. She turned fully to face the man who had last spoken, meeting a pair of slitted, yellow eyes that she had formerly failed to notice.

"I am not Tsukimi," she said slowly, as if trying to remember the name. "I do not know that name anymore. My name is Raine, Sugi-san."


	10. Chapter 10

Shirotaka had stopped as well, turning around and lowering his hat again. Sugi's hands were shaking slightly, and his entire attention was focused on Raine, completely ignoring Shirotaka, who had also drawn a weapon.

"Why?" he asked, still staring at her. "Why are you with the Akatsuki? What made you do this?"

"I think," said Shirotaka, grinning slightly, "that these two know too much about us. Raine, please dispose of Kenja-san. I'll take care of Sugi-san."

She grinned wider, slowly shifting her hand and holding it out before her. Using the orbs wasted too much chakra, and she did not want to tap into the Aohane's chakra at the moment, it was too troublesome. She slid her arms through the respective sleeves of her Akatsuki cloak, bringing into view six shuriken, three in each hand wedged between her knuckles. She and Shirotaka moved at the exact same moment, charging their opponents with incredible agility. The six shuriken were sent directly at Kenja, and he ducked, throwing several senbon at the same time and knocking away another few that were still headed for him.

_Sugi is no pushover_, she thought, locking kunai with Kenja and looking over at Shirotaka. _He is the son of a legend._ She almost suprised herself with how easy it was for her to think about her brother's death. It was if she felt nothing towards him, as if that part of her mind was completely dead. Cold, black and dead, like the rest of her. She was barely trying as she dealt with Kenja, and she could see Shirotaka struggling slightly, especially when a snake shot out from Sugi's sleeve, grappling onto the Akatsuki's neck and snapping its jaws around it. But she knew from experience; Shirotaka was no pushover either. He was an animal. He fought with speed and instinct, making a deadly combination.

Shirotaka remained frozen for a few seconds, before he turned his gaze back to Sugi, baring his teeth like an animal. they began to grow, becoming too long for his mouth as his eyes also changed, widening and becoming wild-looking. He lunged towards Sugi, clamping around his neck and spilling blood over the pavement, his now wolf-like muzzle shaking it back and forth. She turned her attention back to her own battle, suddenly falling back and causing Kenja's force to send him off balance, where he nearly fell onto her. But she moved suddenly, with amazing speed, letting him land on his hands and knees, struggling to get up. But he noticed what had happened.

Blood was pooling around his feet, and he could not stand as pain shot through his legs. Raine knew that what she had done was cruel, but it mattered little to her. She had cut his tendons in his ankles, rendering his legs useless. He could no longer stand, no matter how hard he tried. She brought up her leg, refusing to dirty her hands further, and slammed one of her high-laced, black leather boots into the back of his neck, grinding his jaw into the cement and staring down at him with a blank look on her face. She brought her foot up again and slammed the heel of her boot into his neck again, smiling slightly as it gave a satisfying snap under the pressure, killing him instantly.

She looked over to her brother, who's snake had disappeared, and found him laying on the cement, unmoving and with a large amount of blood pouring from his neck and several other wounds throughout his body. Shirotaka had none of Sugi's blood on him amazingly enough, and his only wound was the small snake bite on his neck, which he was rubbing clean.

"We should move the bodies into the house. Someone might find them," said Shirotaka, bringing a green chakra to his hand and holding it over his wound. When he brought it away, the wound had completely vanished.

"I'm suprised you dealt with Sugi-san so quickly," she said emotionlessly, using her foot to kick the girl's body into the room.

"It appears these villagers know a lot about us," said Shirotaka, after kicking Sugi's body into the room, on to the top of the pile of bodies. He closed the door and brought a large amount of chakra to his hands. He lifted his hands in silence, running it along the space between the cement wall and the metal door, melting the metal into the cement and completely sealing it, preventing anyone from entering without using tremendous force.

"So we should lay low for the next while," he finished, turning back to her. She nodded, lifting her hat from the ground and shaking it out before replacing it on her head, brushing her hair out behind her to keep it out of the way. _Perhaps,_ she thought, following Shirotaka silently out of the alley, _perhaps this will prove to be more interesting than I first thought._

* * *

They rarely stayed overnight within the walls of the Cloud, instead usually travelling to one of the closest villages and spending each night in a different hotel. The Cloud-nin were certainly more alert, and the disappearance of the four Jounin seemed to greatly unsettle them, and security had become quite tight. It seemed to her as if every day it became harder and harder to infiltrate the villge. There was not much information to be found out in the Cloud, as they had found out already what they were up to. It was no secret either. Even the villagers knew about it. They were simply preparing for the war.

She and Shirotaka had spent many hours gathering information on the subject, and had roughly decided what was up with the war. Luckily it wasn't too confusing with only two sides to the war. On the Leaf's side were the Five Great Shinobi Countries, which were Konoha, Kumo, Iwa, Suna and they had even gotten Kiri, the Mist, to join, despite the fact that the Wave country usually kept to itself. On the Sound's side they knew of only two so far, which were the Oto, obviously, and an over-sea village that had a suprising amount of military power called Tsukigakure, the Hidden Moon. But that still left Taki, the Waterfall, and Kusa, the Grass, open to be recruited by Orochimaru. All they were left to do now was to find out if they had yet made any plans, any battle tactics yet. Once they collected that information, their part of the mission would be complete, and they would be free to gather extra information on other countries to better prepare themselves for the war. They basically had all the needed information now, and anything else they gathered would be extra.

At the moment, Raine was in her hotel room, in the bathroom. She had a towel wrapped around her body as she dried out her long hair, brushing it out and drying it over and over, until it was somewhat dry. She slipped on her usual clothes after wrapping up her hair in a towel, a pair of black shorts and a small, black tank top. She quickly lifted a large-buckled belt from her pile of clothing, tightening it around her thin waist just above her hips and fiddling with the buckle for a moment. She grabbed a few bandages and securely bandaged her left shoulder which she had horrible luck with, and it always seemed to get injured somehow in battle. After tying the bandages with her teeth, she lifted a strip of cloth, wrapping it around her body and over her upper arms before buckling it together in the front with three, large black pieces of leather. She tucked the Ikichi inside of her shirt and headed towards the door, opening it and stepping out into her room.

Shirotaka was leaning on the wall beside the bathroom door, and she didn't notice him until she was nearly past him, jumping slightly and glaring at him. "Don't scare me like that," she hissed, wondering what he was doing in her room. Or how he had gotten in there in the first place. "I might attack you next time." She had been about to say 'kill' but she knew she wouldn't be able to simply kill Shirotaka.

She examined him closely, noting that she had never seen him in anything other than his Akatsuki uniform before. The trenchcoats certainly did make people look larger than they were. She had always thought Shirotaka was a well-muscled, medium-sized man, but he was, instead, alot thinner and taller than she had first thought. He wore a plain black t-shirt and had Anbu arm guards on his forearms. She could see the end of a tatoo stretching below the sleeve of his right arm, and could pick out a wolf's head, muzzle stretched wide and teeth bared. He wore dark blue, almost black pants that were bandaged from just below his knees to his sandals, and had two weapons pouches, one on either side of his waist along with a shuriken holster on the side of his right leg.

"Hurry up," he said simply, ignoring her reaction. "The Raikage should be holding a meeting soon."

_A meeting? For what? More planning? _She sighed, stepping past him and sitting on her bed where her Akatsuki trenchcoat and weapons were layed out neatly. She slipped on her socks and grabbed her tall boots, slipping them on as well and doing up the long laces. She was the only member of the Akatsuki who wore any other footwear besides the traditional sandals, instead wearing her tall boots. Kariudo had questioned her ability to fight in heels, but she had shown him she was as capable of fighting while wearing these as she was wearing sandals, and he had not bothered her about it again. She roughly shoved a small knife into her left boot and stood, unbuckling her belt in order to slip on two holsters that were for her small daggers. She checked the inside of her trenchcoat, making sure there was another fan ready for usage, along with a number of kunai and a few shuriken, before slipping that over and reaching up to her hair, pulling off the towel and heading back into the bathroom. She quickly brushed her hair and stepped out, noticing Shirotaka had left already.

She glanced over the room to make sure there was nothing else of hers that had been left behind, before stepping out of the room and heading slowly down the hall towards Shirotaka's room. Before she reached out to knock, the door opened and Shirotaka stepped out in his Akatsuki coat, closing the door behind him.

"I was out looking around the town yesterday," he said, leading her down the hall, "and I think that the Cloud-nin are looking for us. They must have found the bodies of the ones we killed."

"They're looking for us?" she frowned slightly, wondering how long they would be able to stay in the village with the Cloud chuunin and jounin after them. But that was up to Shirotaka, he was above her in the Akatsuki and made the decisions.

"Hn. This will probably be our last day in here. We'll just check out this meeting before leaving."

"Where will we go after? We still have at least a month and a half left."

"Right," he muttered, stepping up to the clerk and paying quickly. They usually wouldn't pay, but now it was too risky to draw attention to themselves. "We will most-likely meet up with Itachi and Kisame to help them in monitering Naruto-kun."

Raine's face darkened as they left the hotel. _Itachi-san? Ugh... _She really felt uncomfortable around that man. There were just some things about him that unnerved her. And on top of that, he was with that Kisame. Kisame was not as bad as Itachi, but he was still... unnatural. She greatly disliked those two.

Shirotaka led her down the streets, where people were just beginning to wake up and go about their daily business. They were the same as she remembered them, dodgey and antisocial, keeping close to the walls of the surrounding buildings and avoiding speaking as much as possible. It was cloudy out, as usual, but not raining as it usually did. But she could still feel the weight of the clouds above her, and knew that it would most likely begin raining later today. The clouds seemed heavy with the condensation, and their bottoms sagged with the added weight.

She sped up, falling into step beside Shirotaka as they headed towards the center of the city. They had 'attended' one other meeting and knew how to enter the building. It was fairly easy to enter into the Raikage's house, into the meeting room at least, but there were still many things the two Akatsuki needed to worry about. This meeting would contain, most likely, jounin, chuunin and, of course, the Raikage himself. If it was very important, there might not be as many chuunin, but there certainly would be more jounin and even Anbu. If they were caught, there was a very slim chance of their escape. While they might be able to take on the Raikage together, or Shirotaka taking him on alone, with the added jounin, chuunin, and possibly Anbu, they stood little or no chance.

"You head in first. I'll be up right behind you. Make sure you make no noise whatsoever," said Shirotaka warningly. She nodded silently, looking up at the roof of the Raikage's house. Bringing a small amount of chakra to her feet, she easily jumped onto it, landing in a crouch and casting around for a few seconds until she found what she was looking for. A small raised part in the roof to her left. She darted over to it and circled around behind it, setting her hands onto a small latch and gently pulling with her gloved, right hand. She used her left hand to silence it as she lifted it slowly, propping it against the raised part of the roof as she lowered a boot slowly into the darkness below. When it touched upon a firm surface, she slid completely into the darkness, her eyes adjusting slowly.

The crawlspace was not very large, and even for her it posed some difficulties when it came to moving. She did not know how Shirotaka manuevered through such a small space, as he was much larger than her. She crawled silently to the left, until she came to a slightly more open space, where she could almost stand. The house of the Raikage was large, and this crawlspace was like a maze, but she knew her way around. It had, afterall, once been her house, and she had been a child. A child who loved to explore. She headed swiftly to the other side of this larger cavern, before coming to another small hatch which was already open. She dropped down into this with no second thought, landing in a cramped space on a thin rafter and moving to the left slightly. Far below her was a large room that was just beginning to fill with Cloud-nin, and at the head of the room, flanked by two others, sat the seventh Raikage. He was already speaking to a number of jounin, but she could not clearly hear what he was saying. She could sense Anbu around the parimeter, and could see two in the shadows to the left of the room. _Tight security_, she thought, grinning slightly.

There was a soft, almost undetectable whoosh of dust and air as Shirotaka appeared beside her suddenly, not even acknowledging her as he peered intently down at the meeting. The rafter they were situated on was higher than the others, and on the far side of the room, hidden in the darkness away from prying eyes. Even if they were heard, they would most likely not be found. The two Akatsuki leaned forwards as the meeting began. The Raikage folded his hands on the desk in front of him and began speaking.

"Quiet," he called out across the bustling room. The silence was almost immediate, and he refolded his hands on the desk before him. "Let's make this quick," he said after the room had gone completely silent. "Let me speak first, and you may ask questions after.

"The three Anbu squads that were sent out months ago returned yesterday evening and had some interesting things to report, coming from the Sound. It appears Orochimaru has revised some of his previous plans due to a disturbance caused by infiltrators." Raine scoffed silently._ Akage and Kageru... Were they found out? Those idiots, they'll mess up the plans!_ "It was brought to our attention three years ago by the Godaime Hokage that Orochimaru had obtained an Uchiha to use for his new body. He has, up until now, been training his body to prepare it for the moment when he will take it over and call it his own. He will still be continuing with this plan as far as we know, but there is also another problem that we need to worry about now.

"A man by the name of Akisu is that problem. We assume that he is the son of Orochimaru, and at the moment, he is an S-ranked missing-nin from Konoha that may currently pose more of a threat than Orochimaru himself." Raine's mind seemed to slow down as the time around her stopped._ That name.... _She had almost forgotten. _Akisu...?_ It had a dull, metallic ring to it as it rebounded through her head over and over, trying to awaken some former emotion that had been lost years ago. But her mind was as dead as her body, she could feel no emotion. She blinked a few times and time sped up again as she refocussed on the meeting below. "He has become at least as much of a threat as Orochimaru, that is, until Orochimaru takes the Uchiha's body. And, on top of that, some of you may remember the Hikaru, the more powerful version of the Aohane. Akisu is the boy who carries this experiment, and it is still unknown how much of the experiment's power he is able to harness.

"But this is not the only new problem that has surfaced. It appears that the Akatsuki are also on the move again. No village is yet sure of their motives, but they have been spotted a number of times in the last few months all across the countries. They are still travelling in pairs and have not caused any large disturbances, but there is another problem that has recently been brought to my attention. Shizuka Tsukimi."

Raine would have pitched forwards off of the rafter in suprise had Shirotaka's arm not shot out to cover her mouth, as she almost cried out. She had not heard her full name for around ten years, but to hear it in a place and time like this was not something she looked forwards to. Whispers spread across the room below as the Cloud-nin remembered her name, connecting it to what she was.

"You mean... The Rokudaime-sama's...?"

"Yes," said the Raikage, coughing lightly once. "She is a wanted criminal, an S-ranked missing-nin wanted in both Kumo-gakure and Konoha-gakure. As most of you know, she is also the capsule for the Aohane, on of the Rokudaime's experiments gone wrong. She is also the holder of the Ikichi, the Lifeblood Stone of the Cloud. Most of you also know, and if you do not already then it is time for the secret to be publicized, that she is the daugher of the Yondaime Hokage. Although the former Raikage tried to keep this a secret from Kumo-gakure, the child she had given borth to was no child of Orochimaru's, who had left a few months prior.

"Although this is a problem in itself, there is more bad news. The Rokudaime Raikage's other child, her son Shizuka Sugi, was found badly injured and near death-" _Near death?! We didn't kill him?!_ "-along with the other jounin found a few months ago. He nearly had his vocal cords torn out, but was able to begin speaking a few days ago, and what he had to say was not good. According to the information he passed to us, we can conclude a few things about the two Akatsuki that were sighted in Kumo-gakure. The first, is that one of them was actually Shizuka Tsukimi. The second is that she is willingly travelling with the other, and had no problem in attacking her own brother. The third is that she still carries the Ikichi. And the last is that she has become tens of times more powerful than when she first became a missing-nin. If she is able to control the Ikichi and the Aohane's power fully, she is as much a problem as Orochimaru and Akisu." A jounin suddenly approached the Raikage from the shadows behind him, bending down and whispering something in his ear. His face darkened slightly and he waved the man away, nodding slightly and whispering something back. _What's going on? _thought Raine, narrowing her eyes.

"In fact," he said in a slightly lighter tone, lifting a number of papers and tapping them on the desk to organize them. "She is probably listening to us at this very moment." Raine's eyes widened as several heads turned, looking around the room, a few even looking up towards her and Shirotaka. Although she knew she was well-hidden in the darkness, it was still bizzarre to be looking into the eyes of some of those hunting her. "She should know her way around very well, being a former Cloud-nin, and _perhaps her and the other Akatsuki are listening in on this very meeting_." He said the last words in an odd way, emphasizing them clearly, and some of the jounin shifted again, looking around further.

_How can he know that, and act so peaceful and confident?.....! _She turned her head slowly to look at Shirotaka. _Was it a set-up?! A trap?!_ Her breaths began to speed up, and she had to force her body to calm down as much as possible. The room below had gone completely silent as several of the jounin looked around, some whispering to eachother. But her attempts to slow and calm her body were crushed when she noticed something else. The presences of the Anbu had vanished.

She looked at Shirotaka, whose forehead was beaded with sweat as he stared intently down upon the silent room. She saw him pull back slightly, clenching his teeth, and followed his gaze. The Raikage was staring directly at them._ It was a trap, a set up_, she thought numbly. She and Shirotaka could both sense what had happened, and were almost in a state of shock. Their exit had been blocked. There was a large amount of chakra between them and their escape route that both could sense even from there. The Anbu had been dispatched sometime during the meeting._ If we do not move _now,_ we will be slaughtered!_

"Raine," whispered Shirotaka quickly. "We have to move. Now."

She nodded, scanning the room below. She could not twll if they had heard him or not, but most of them were now staring up at the darkest part of the ceiling, which just happened to be exactly where they were hiding.

"The only way out from here is down and out. We'll have to jump as far from the Raikage as possible and fight out. Use the orbs and the Aohane if needed," he ordered, standing on the rafter and gazing down. She remained crouched, wondering how he could act so calm. If they were captured, he would surely be killed, and she would be killed immediately after they got the Ikichi back from her.

"Go," he hissed. They both dropped from the rafter, sailing down through the air towards the wooden floor below. The jounin reacted immediately, jumping back against the walls or in front of their Kage, some drawing weapons but none moving as they landed in the center of the rough circle. They stood, Raine's heart beating at an unprecidented rate as she tried to keep her exterior as calm-looking as Shirotaka. She stood slowly, back-to-back with the taller Shirotaka, swallowing hard. _Why weren't the jounin attacking?_ Her body reacted to the adreneline pumping through it, and the twenty-four orbs automatically materialized around her, spinning furiously for a few seconds before falling still and hovering.

"Ah," said the Raikage calmly. She was staring directly ahead and slightly down, concentrating on the wooden floor. Shirotaka could do the talking. "I was wondering when you two would expose yourselves." Shirotaka said nothing to this, and Raine was barely listening. She was slowly concentrating her chakra to the seal on her stomach, feeling the Aohane stir longingly within her. Her eyes were wide and blank as she concentrated all of her thought and energy on the seal. She could almost hear the Aohane laughing with excitement at the bloodbath that it would soon be drenched in.

"There is no possible way you can escape from here. Give us the Ikichi, Tsukimi."

_The Ikichi is mine_, she thought, still staring at the floor._ I'll not have an old man like you take it from me. **We will...**_

"Tsukimi," he went on calmly. The room was completely silent. "Give me the Lifeblood. The Ikichi."

"Shut your trap, old man," muttered Shirotaka. He still need time to think of a plan, and time for Raine to prepare the seal. **_We will..._**

**_We will rip you apart._**


	11. Chapter 11

The jounin facing her suddenly began backing up and readying themselves. Her eyes had lifted from the floor, and she was glaring at them as if she were a wolf, an animal wanting to devour them. Her clouded, dull blue eyes had begun to burn, bleeding first into purple, and then into blood red. She could feel the Aohane trying to take control of her body, trying to break free from its invisible cage by ripping apart her mind. Shirotaka sensed the change in her as well, and knew that she was ready to unleash the seal as soon as he gave the order. But the other jounin had noticed the change as well, and they also knew of the Aohane, perhaps even more so than Shirotaka. Their village had been attacked by it eighteen years ago, and they knew of its power. As if they were one organism, they all moved in the exact same movement, drawing kunai from their weapon's pouches and taking a step back as they braced themselves. Shirotaka smiled.

"Let us out right now and I will not make her release it," he said, turning towards the Raikage. He seemed to have lost some of his former calmness, and was glaring at Shirotaka angrily.

"What are you doing in the Cloud?" he asked, narrowing his eyes. "What are the Akatsuki planning right now?"

There was a moment of silence before Shirotaka gave a short laugh, turning to face the Raikage fully. "As if I'd tell you."

"Heh, that's to be expected. But you, Tsukimi, what made you turn to these people?"

Shirotaka was unable to respond because this time the question had been directed at Raine. But she seemed to be completely lost in a world of her own, still glaring at the somewhat unnerved jounin before her.

"Why would you do that to your brother?"

No response. If possible, her eyes seemed to grow wider and more wild.

"He still loves you, you know that, don't you?"

The word 'love' seemed to break her trance. Her blood red eyes blinked and she lowered her head until her long hair hid her pale features. But the Raikage had been wrong when he began to think he had gotten through to her. She twitched, before she began shaking slightly. She was laughing. When she lifted her head, her eyes had lost some of their killing intent, but they retained their blood-red colour as she stepped away from Shirotaka's back, turning to face the Raikage. Her laughing died away, leaving the room in silence again.

"I remember you now," she said quietly, grinning as she examined the Raikage's face. "You were mother's right hand man, the one who helped her with all of her experiments!" The Raikage's face darkened slightly as she said this, but he remained quiet.

"You're an asshole," she stated simply, her grin fading as she looked innocently up at him. "You deserve to die. Sugi doesn't give a damn about me. Mother was the only one. Father didn't care. My brother, Naruto, doesn't care. Why would Sugi care?"

"Because he is your brother."

"Don't even bother trying to get through to me with that crap," she said harshly, suprised at the amount of emotion in her voice. She did not know what it was, but there was some type of emotion there. More than she had shown in three years. "You just son't get it, do you? I am no longer alive. I died three years ago. This is simply an empty, emotionless shell. Everything you say to it will bounce off. The word 'love' is no longer part of my vocabulary."

"Raine," said Shirotaka quietly. She turned to face him. "Let's get out of here. We have spent too long talking." She nodded and stepped forwards further, facing the door and taking a step towards it, watching as the jounin gathered in front of it. She could almost feel the Aohane clawing at her mind, and it showed in her movements that she was struggling to keep it under control. It seemed as if, with every step, she was fighting for control over her movements. She finally managed to stop her advancing. Her fists were clenched and her eyes unfocused, and she was shaking ever so slightly. The Raikage seemed about to say something, before Shirotaka shifted slightly, whipping out two, large daggers.

"Release it, Raine!"

Chakra crackled around her originating from the base of her feet less than a second after the words left his mouth, as if it had been building up for years, trying to force its way out. She winced slightly as it burned her skin with the amount that was coming out, but she kept releasing it until she felt the seal dissolve. As the first Jounins charged her, she grinned and dashed forwards to meet them. Black armour glinted in the dim light and blood spattered across the far wall before three jounin followed, slamming into it with their eyes wide and sliding to the ground, dead.

She gave a short laugh and flicked up the front of her helmet in order to see more clearly. The transformation was only half complete, and she began rapidly releasing her chakra from every point in her body, feeling the extra power overwhelming her and nearly taking over her mind. The battle was completely silent, no shouting or calling out, as she and Shirotaka threw jounin after jounin off their backs, trying to clear a path to the doors. Raine gave a small shout and threw two jounin off her, falling into a crouch and looking up curiously as several dark, blue feathers rained down around her. She could feel added weight between her shoulders and she shifted slightly, stretching out one of the two long, dark-blue wings. The leading edge was plated in the same type of lightweight metal that covered most of her body, and at the joint, the metal curved outwards into a short, serrated dagger. She had forgotten what it felt like to be so powerful. But the seal was not fully released- if it was, she would not be the one controlling her actions. If it was fully released, the Aohane would be the one in control, and at the moment, it was only partially in control. But, there was still the slight possibility that the Aohane could overwhelm her against her will. If that happened, even Shirotaka would be fighting against her. She could not let that happen.

Before she could move properly, a yellow and white shadow collided with her, the incredible force amlified by the fact that it was completely surrounded in electicity-like, yellow chakra. She skidded back, grunting as she dug her gloved fingers into the wooden floor to stop herself, the wood splintering as she skidded to a halt. Shirotaka was beside her in an instant, breathing heavily, but unscathed. There was a break in the battle as she looked up at who would be her next opponent.

"Aren't you a bit too old to be fighting me, Raikage-sama?" she asked mockingly after regaining her lost breath. The yellow shadow had been the Raikage himself, who was now standing at the head of the group of jounin. There was a flash of yellow as he threw off his Kage robes, revealing a completely black shinobi uniform, with several weapons pouches attached to his waist. _Is he...?_ Raine's grin faded slightly, but it remained as she looked over at her former Kage. _Is he really going to take this seriously? This may prove troublesome even for us. But Shirotaka..._ She looked to Shirotaka, who was radiating anger and dangerous vibes towards everyone. Herself included. _Keh, Shirotaka is the one who matters. I'm lower in the rankings, and if Kariudo finds out his right hand man is dead, I'll be joining Shirotaka in Hell._

"Shirotaka-san, I'll make an opening. You get past the Raikage and head out the door," she said, all humour gone from her voice. _And besides,_ she thought, smiling faintly again, _I used to be a Cloud-nin. I know how to deal with them better than a shinobi from another country. Cloud-nin think very differently from other shinobi. They fight only for themselves, and rarely for their comrades._

Before anything could be said on the Raikage's or Shirotaka's part, she was up in a flash of black armour, and beside the Raikage. She brought her wings around in an arch, the serrated daggers nearly catching the Raikage as he ducked and attempted to trip her. He was more of a taijutsu master than a jutsu user, but he did know a few very powerful jutsu. But those jutsu, if used in such a small space as this, would demolish the building, or kill the other jounin. She shook her head, jumping back and trying to control her body. It had been the Aohane that had attacked the Raikage. _Make a path,_ she thought, _forget about him. Just get rid of the shinobi in the way._

She flipped back as the Raikage charged again, heading towards the door and taking flight in the small space. Two of the jounin jumped her just as she brought her wings down, and she knocked the first away, using the other to start her off in a spin. She shot towards the door, tearing past the other jounin at an unprecidented speed, but the Raikage hit her hard in the gut, knocking her off course. She wouldn't give in though, and her orbs, nearly forgotten by the Cloud-nin, formed a point in front of her as she crashed into the wall beside the door. The orbs did little to protect her, but they managed to shatter the wall as she hit it and tumbled to the ground, jumping up quickly as Shirotaka dashed towards her. She moved quickly, jumping out of the way as he dashed beneath her and out into the rainy afternoon. The jounin seemed about to persue him, but she landed between them and the Akatsuki, wasting no time in jumping back into their ranks.

The cover on her heltmet had fallen back over her eyes, protecting it as a number of kunai bounced off of her armoured body. The jounin had no time to pursue Shirotaka, as she was deep in their midst, slashing in all directions with the dagger-like projections on her gloves and elbows. Several dark shadows surrounded her as the other jounin found a chance to go after Shirotaka, and she found herself facing the Raikage again. _Great, _she thought, looking at the dark shapes crowding her. _Anbu._

"Not so fast," she growled, raising her wings and dropping to the ground. The Anbu moved with speed to rival her own, attempting to pin her to the ground, but she brought her wings down hard, catching one of their number just below his jaw and slicing open his neck as she launched into the air. There was a sharp pain in her left leg, and she sunk back to the ground, realizing there was an Anbu still attached. _Keh, these things are like ants. There are so many. But..._ She narrowed her eyes, kicking the Anbu from her leg and taking to the air again. _But they are not fighting seriously. The Kage is holding back, he has done very little to restrain us... They are trying to tire us out, huh? Why?_ She chuckled and circled once, before dropping towards the Raikage with killing intent. _Trying to capture us, are you, Raikage-sama?_

"**Fight properly**," she growled from under her helmet, taking on an odd tone of voice. A voice that was too large for her. The Raikage looked up just in time as she descended on him, almost caught off guard. But something else happened she had not expected.

Two gaint, thick-bodied snakes suddenly sunk their teeth into the exposed parts of her body- her stomach, neck and the back of her knees- their bodies stretching taught as they stopped her inches from the Raikage's face. She fell to the ground from more shock rather than pain, and the moment she hit, the bodies of the snakes tightened threateningly around her, crushing her dark-blue wings to her sides and rendering her body useless.

"Stop it, Tsuki!"

"S-Sugi?!" _What the hell is going on?!_ The seal on her stomach felt cold and dead. She had used too much chakra, but the form of the Aohane remained around her, hovering like a mirage. The snakes tightened.

In the hole she had created in the wall stood her brother, a snake coming from either sleeve as he restrained her. The battle had stopped, and she was exaughsted. Sugi had an indecisive expression on his face, as if he didn't want to hurt her, and as if he wanted to restrain her for his Kage. He chose the latter, and the snakes tightened with incredible force, squeezing the breath from her as the Aohane's form fell away completely. There was a dull snap as something, most likely a rib, snapped. The pain broke something in her mind and for a moment, she returned to her former self.

"Aniki!"

That was all it took for Sugi to release her, for him to hear his sister's voice crying out in distress. The snakes vanished and she slumped to the ground, clutching her side as her eyes hardened again, and she prepared to fight. But before she could stand, there was a familiar flash of yellow, and something connected with the side of her head with so much force that it nearly sent her back against the other jounin. They moved quickly and she slammed into the wall, sining to the ground and immediatel clutching her head. Something was wrong- the blood was everywhere and she felt dizzy. _Damn Raikage,_ she thought, growling inwardly as voices shouted around her. But her mind began buzzing and her arms became too heavy to hold to her head, so she simply slipped to the ground and stared out before her with half-closed eyes. But even keeping her eylids open became too much of a task, and she finally gave up, slipping into the darkness.

--------------------------------

Raine sat in the corner of a small cell, light streaming in through a single barred window. But no light could reach her. Her dull blue eyes were wide open and her head slightly lowered as she simply glared at the far wall. She could barely move properly, as her injuries had not been treated by the Cloud-nin. The fangs of the snakes had penetrated deep, but had not hit anything vital apparently, as she was still alive. Even if just barely. She had woken only moments before, and had not moved from her original postion, with her back to the corner of the cell and her knees pulled up loosely to her chest. Her broken ribs and her head were throbbing with such an intense, incredably overwhelming pain that she thought it would drive her insane. But those were not the only things driving her mad.

They had taken the Ikichi. She had woken on the floor and pushed herself up, before realizing there was no familiar weight around her neck, no cold chain where it should have been. She was their prisoner, and she was dying. With every breath her body screamed at her, ripping through her nerves like fire and threatening to overwhelm her. She felt like screaming or running head first into the wall to kill herself, both of which were impossible. Her throat was to dry and hoarse to raise it to a scream. And, as for running into the wall, she was chained to this corner with hardly any length of chain. There were shackles around her wrist and ankles, and her neck was surrounded by a thick metal chain. And, to make matters worse, the lock in the door turned.

The Cloud-nin had come in twice before to check on her, but there had been only two or three. This time, there were six Jounin. She would have jumped up and killed them immediately if she had been able to. She had tried the first time, only to find that the seal on her stomach had been completely sealed with a seal she had never seen before. An oddly designed seal that consisted of two triangles, one upside down and the other rightside up, placed overtop of eachother to form a six-pointed star shape that was layed over her two Four Season's seals.

"Bastards," she spat, her usual welcome. One of the jounin stepped forwards, dangling a key in front of her, and she heard the others shifting. They were carrying ropes. She let out a low growl and narrowed her eyes further.

"Raikage-sama is going to speak with you, so-"

Before he could finish his sentance, she launched herself at him, the chains jerking her back as she stopped inches from his face. He didn't flinch in the slightest, only raising his hand and punching her hard in the stomach, where she sunk to the ground, her entire body screaming in pain.

A few moments later, she found the chains replaced by ropes. There were four ropes around her neck, and a jounin each holding one, one in front, to the left, right and back. If she moved, she would not be able to go anywhere. The first joinin pulled her off the ground and pressed a kunai into her back, forcing her to move out of the small cell and into the light of the building she was being kept in.

The man in front tugged hard, almost tripping her as they closed the door behind, leading her quickly up a long flight of stairs and into even brighter light. Her dull blue eyes were partially closed, and she had no energy left to rebel, so she simply followed along as they took her down a hall. A few of the other jounin watched from other rooms as she passed, and she amused herself by sending death glares towards them from the corners of her eyes. They led her into another room that seemed much larger than the others, with a large desk on one end where the Raikage and two others sat. To either side of the desk stood several jounin, and she found her seat immediately- a single chair in the center of the room. Without a word, the jounin forced her in to the chair and fastened her hands behind her tightly, preventing her from moving at all. _Now what the hell do they want?_ She thought, closing her eyes and trying not to think about the pain.

The jounin moved away from her finally, and she remained in the exact same position. Her long hair completely hid her face and her eyes, which were now halfway open._ I probably look helpless and weak_, she thought bitterly, grimacing in pain as her ribs sung. She coughed once and it started off an intense, and very painful, coughing fit. She felt the wound on her head reopen and a small amount of blood trickle down her temple, dripping onto the shoulder of her Akatsuki cloak before she got her coughing under control. She did not lift her head as the Raikage began speaking.

"Tsukimi, listen up," he said roughly. She remained completely still. "I'm going to ask you some questions. Please answer truthfully."

Her eyes opened fully and she lifted her head slightly, glaring out from her veil of dark hair. The Raikage seemed to falter for a moment, before going on. "Firstly, why are you with the Akatsuki?"

She would have laughed had she been able too, but that would hurt too much, so she simply remained still and grinned slightly. "Things aren't that simple, old man," she said quietly.

"Hm. And what do you mean by that?"

"What I mean.... Is that you shouldn't be poking into my own affairs," she said, her voice deepening to a low growl.

"I see... You are not leaving this room until you give us the answers to all of our questions, but we will continue on then... What are the Akatsuki planning? Why have they been active lately?"

"They'll kill you all."

"What?"

"They'll kill you all. If I don't turn up before that time, they'll kill you all."

"W-what are you talking about?" he asked, faltering slightly. What suprised her the most though, was the fact that she was actually telling the truth.

"Each Akatsuki fights for himself, but they are an organization. If one member dies, the order is disrupted, their power is depleted. Even if they have no personal ties to eachother, they will be forced in to action if a member should... fail to show. You will all be killed."

The Raikage's face darkened, and he leaned to the side to mutter something to a jounin beside him, who began writing on a clipboard. "We still need you to answer the first question, Tsukimi. Why are you with the Akatsuki? What could you possibly see in a group of Missing-nin?" She said nothing. "You were not the type to do something like this. What triggered this? What could possibly make a carefree teenager become an S-ranked Missing-nin?" Still nothing. The Raikage's eyes hardened. "If you do not answer, I will use force."

"I don't care what you do to me. I will not betray my organization."

"What? Loyalty... Loyalty is not a trait found in Missing-nin. What are your motives?"

"I-" she clamped her mouth shut and lowered her head further to prevent herself from saying more. Her world was rocking back and forth and she could not think clearly. The Raikage motioned and two of the jounin stepped forwards, one grabbing her shoulders and the other standing slightly off to the side. _I...I... I can't take this kind of thing,_ she thought, almost pannicking._ I'm just not used to it..._

"Why are you with the Akatsuki?" he asked again, lowering his voice. She opened her mouth once, before closing it, then opening it again, and finally clenching her teeth shut. She would reveal nothing more. Only a few seconds later, a fist connected with the side of her head and the blood from the wound there dripped on to the floor, the gash enlarged by the force with which he had hit her.

"Tsukimi, answer now. Why are you with them?"

"You'll get nothing from me."

She gasped as the fist hit her again, blood flying from her mouth this time and spattering the floor. She ground her teeth and narrowed her eyes, trying to stay concious.

"Answer!"

There was a flash of metal as the man pulled out a long, curved knife, cocking it beside her head threateningly. She let a low hiss escape her lips, lifting her head to glare at the man, but before he could strike her, another voice called out, and a man stepped out of line to adress the Raikage.

"Wait, Raikage-sama!"

_Sugi...? _She tore her eyes away from the jounin and they fell upon the form of her older brother. He was speaking quietly with the Raikage, and gesturing towards Raine every few moments. _What are you doing, Sugi? Why bother? We're on opposite sides._

The Raikage sighed, folding his hands on the desk and staring at the silent Sugi for a few moments, before nodding to the other jounin. They suddenly began leaving the room, filing out the door she had come through and out of sight. But what suprised her further was that the Raikage was coming towards her. He raised his hands and brought them down covered in chakra that easily cut through the bonds, before leaving as well in silence. _What is he doing...?_

But she knew he was in no danger. The seal on her stomach that overlayed the two Four Season's seals did not allow her to use any chakra, perhaps a little, but not enough to perform any jutsu. She didn't even have enough energy to lift her arms, let alone stand or attack him. Even if she could, she didn't know if she would. When she lifted her head, she found herself staring at Sugi's feet.

"Get up," he said roughly, not moving. She said nothing, wondering why they had been left alone. "Get up, Tsuki."

"What do you want?" she asked bitterly, as if she had not been listening.

"I'm getting you out of here."

She lifted her head fully, staring into her brother's yellow, slitted eyes intently. "W-what?"

He massaged his face tiredly, as if he would regret what he was about to do. "You are my sister, my own blood, and I can't see you like this. Not after you have been gone for so many years."

"I tried to kill you. I killed the others. I killed many of the Cloud-nin. I tried to kill the Raikage. Why would you want to side with the enemy?"

"I'm not. I'm siding with you, not the Akatsuki... Look, just get up," he said finally, as if his mind could change at any time.

"I can't."

He shifted and she heard a soft jingling, lifting her head again to see a small gold chain with a multi-coloured stone on the end. The Ikichi. Before she could think properly, she was up, out of her chair as she tried to grab it away. But her ribs protested strongly to this, and she ended up clutching them and breaking down coughing again. He grabbed her shoulder and supported her, slipping it around her neck.

"I have fifteen minutes to 'get you to speak'. We have to move now." Before she could voice any of the questions that were running through her head, he had lifted her from the ground, lifting her up on his back and pulling her arms around his neck. He released her arms for a moment, leaving her to cling by herself as he formed a few seals. A moment later, there was a replica of her in the chair and him standing a few feet off. He quickly readjusted his grip on her and turned towards the door, staring at it blankly for a few moments, before sighing, and turning towards the two windows.

"What are you doing?" she hissed, wincing as he opened the window and jumped on to the sill. _Why would someone I had tried to kill help me?_

"Be quiet," he whispered, landing lightly on the ground in a crouch. He glanced right and left, before dashing to the left and into a narrow alleyway, keeping to the shadows as he carried her towards the edge of the village. _Why is he doing this?! I never asked for his help._

She turned her head slightly, looking up at the sky as she felt a raindrop land on her cheek. It was starting to rain. Again. They reached the edge of the town within minutes, and Sugi dropped over the edge of the village walls, landing in the grassy field below and darting behind a large boulder, before letting her slide from his back. She remained still for a few moments, before reaching in to her trenchcoat and removing a cigarette and lighter. But as soon as she put the cigarette in her mouth, it was snatched and thrown away, off to the side by her brother.

"What the hell are you doing?" she asked, staring angrily up at him

"Making your life last longer," he said simply, rummaging in his weapon pouch. He produced a few rolls of bandages and tossed them to her.

"Why do you bother trying to help me?" she asked sharply. "It's not like I asked for it. And when they find out what you did, they'll kill you or imprison you."

"I can talk my way out of anything. I am my father's son, and I've got a snake's tongue, so don't worry."

"...I wasn't," she growled a few moments after the words left his mouth. She pocketed the bandages and struggled to her feet, using the rock behind her for support.

"I have to get back," he said quietly, turning to face her. She scoffed and stumbled forwards, brushing past him and heading out in to the open field.

"Tsuki," he said. To her suprise, she halted, slowing and stopping to hear his words. "If...If I had been you, I would not have chosen this path. I don't know what made you do this, but it doesn't matter. What's done is done, and there's nothing you can do about it. But you're involved with a dangerous group of people. If you continue on with them, you will become one forever, and you will be forced to live your life watching your back. People who don't trust cannot be trusted."

"...Keh. It's not your job to lecture me about what path I choose."

"Then whose is it?"

"Mine. No one else's." She sighed and winced slightly as she continued forwards as quickly as possible. The temperature was dropping again, and the rain increased. Even now she could smell the winter in the air above the blood she was soaked in.

"Just...Whatever happens, do not use _that_ jutsu," he said to her retreating back. She said nothing, simply walking on in the same direction, leaving the Cloud behind again.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Raine sat high up in a tree with a cigarette between her fingers. It was not lit, and she was simply staring at it. _Don't smoke it, don't smoke it, don't smoke it..._ She growled in annoyance and cast it over her shoulder, crossing her arms across her chest testily and closing her eyes. Her wounds had done little healing, but the bandages had been removed long ago, save for the one that constantly bandaged her left shoulder. She had been wandering around for a few weeks now, looking for any members of the Akatsuki in the villages, but she found no trace of the. Perhaps they had already begun moving. She had no clue.

She was currently somewhere in the Fire country where, luckily, it did not snow, although it was still fairly cold, and it did rain sometimes. At the moment, it was sunny with a cold breeze whistling through the bare branches of the surrounding trees. She suddenly felt a pang of... pang of something shoot through her body, and she instinctively raised her left hand. On the little finger was her Akatsuki ring, with the kanji for "empty" on it. _Kariudo is calling_, she thought, narrowing her eyes. _But he was not calling specifically for me. He is calling for all of us. I suppose he thinks I'm dead._

She lowered her hand and turned her head slightly, her eyes sliding towards the south where Konoha was located. She had a familiar felling, as if this had happened before. There was an explosion. Followed by another, and another, then silence. _They've started already...?_ She pushed herself up on the branch, wincing as her still-healing ribs sent pangs of pain through her torso, and looked towards the south for a few moments.. After she spent a few moments listening to the silence, she decided to climb higher into the tree, reaching the top branches and gazing out across the forest that separated her from the Leaf. There were three thin columns of smoke curling up from the northern side of the village, but that was all she could pick out. She supposed that her techniques would be required at around this time, so she buttuned up her Akatsuki cloak and dropped back in to the forest, landing on a thick branch and making her way at a steady pace towards the village.

The going would have been faster, and easier, had several of her ribs not been broken. And if she were able to better control her chakra. But once she found Kariudo, she knew he would be able to unseal it and she would be able to use her chakra normally again. But, for the meantime, she could not use the Ikichi's orbs, she could not use any jutsu, she could not use the Aohane, and she could not force chakra to her feet to allow her faster movement. But she was making progress.

After only a few minutes of travelling, she could already smell the blood and smoke, but there were strangely no sounds of battle coming from ahead. Perhaps she had missed the action. Ninja battles were meant to be short. _No_, she thought. _Three years ago, in the battle of the Sound and Sand versus the Leaf, the fighting lasted longer than a few minutes. They are probably planning the next moves._ Ahead of her, the forest thinned and broke into a rocky canyon that was the transition between forest and village. It was also, apperently, where a battle was about to take place.

She had seen the three columns of smoke rising from the northern side of the village, not the southern. Not, where the three columns had been, there were three giant animals, an orange toad, a blue and white slug, and a giant, purple snake she knew belonged to Orochimaru. But it was not Orochimaru who rode upon its head, but a dark-haired boy; on the toad which she knew had belonged to her father and Jiraiya, she saw her half-brother, looking much different from when she had last seen him. That alone, seeing her brother, told her Akatsuki had not yet set their plan into motion. The slug was being controlled by a young, pink-haired girl who Raine did not know.

But that was their battle. The canyon before her depicted what her own battle would entail. On one outcrop stood a sea of Sound, Moon, Rain, Waterfall, and Grass-nin, all carefully organized, dressed in camouflage, and silent. They were led by four figures, two Sound-nin, the Tsukikage of the Moon, and a Rain-nin. On another outcrop stood the Leaf, Sand, Cloud, Mist and Stone-nin, with numbers only slightly less than those of the opposing side, and headed by three of the five Kages, the Mizukage missing along with the Tsuchikage. But there was another group as well. Eight figures standing in a line with one gap, each wearing a black trenchcoat with red cloud designs outlined in red decorating them. Each with a ring that bore a different kanji. Each with a hiate that had a slash running through it. Each with dead, cold eyes that yearned only for more blood. The middle figure turned, and several heads from the opposing sides turned as well as Kariudo acknowledged her presence.

"You're late, Raine."


	12. Chapter 12

She landed in the gap between Koumori and Kisame, standing and turning towards Kariudo, who was looking at her directly, although she maintained her effort in avoiding to make eye contact. She could feel the skin on her forehead burning as he wordlessly threatened her with the seal she had been placed under upon acceptance in to the organization, but he did not activate it.

"What took you so long?" asked Shirotaka, poking his head around Itachi to survey her.

"...I had to escape without the use of my chakra, and steal back the Ikichi," she said, leaving the Sugi part out.

"Without your chakra?"

"They sealed it with a seal I've never seen before," she explained. Kariudo broke from the line and approached her.

"Show me. You cannot fight without the use of the orbs and your chakra."

She hesitated for a moment before unbuttoning her trenchcoat and letting it drop to the rocky floor. She lifted her tanktop only enough for most of the seal to show, and shifted slightly as Kariudo raised his hand, which was practically dripping in chakra.

"What an odd seal," he muttered, narrowing his eyes. "But, this should work. Roku Ikkakukaiin."

She winced slightly as he spread his fingers and slammed them over her seal, the chakra burning the skin of her stomach for a few moments before she staggered back, feeling the chakra flowing through her again. He shook his hand out and dropped it as she clutched her stomach and lifted her cloak from the ground, replacing it over her shouders.

"What are they doing?" she asked Kariudo, looking out across the silent troops. There was an explosion from where the three summoned animals were battling.

"Waiting for someone to make the first move," he said simply, falling back into line. She examined the leaders of the troops as she waited, but she was looking for one in particular, one who belonged to the Sound.

The Sound's troops were led by four people, the Tsuchikage on the left, and a Rain-nin on the right of a gap. On either side of them stood two more Sound-nin, one with silver hair done up in a ponytail with round glasses that glinted annoyingly in the sunlight, and one dressed in completely black, save for a red music note on the front of his uniform. But her eyes fell back to the gap, where she supposed another should be.

As if on que, there was a flash, and another man landed between the Rain-nin and the Tsukikage. He was wearing a loose, tan-coloured outfit with black shorts and a black t-shirt underneath, and a length of light-purple rope around his waist. He wore white shin guards and had a pair of long, black gloves that reached up to just below his elbows. Across his back was a medium-sized katana, the sword's case strapped neatly across his shouders, ready to be used. His skin, although not unhealthily pale, was made to look so because of the long, glossy-black hair that framed his face, reaching to his shoulders where it had been neatly trimmed, and curled in under his chin. She was looking him directly in his eyes, which she recognized immediately. They were not cold and dead like hers, but alert and wild, with a dull golden glow to them and snake-like slits for pupils.

"Akisu," she whispered. But he seemed not to recognize her, as he turned to the side to say something to the Tsukikage._ Do I look that different that even he cannot recognize me?_

"Kariudo, why do you hesitate to begin the battle?" called out Akisu, the apperent leader for the Sound's side. She immediately noticed that his voice had changed, not only in pitch, but in the way he spoke. His voice was clear and loud enough for all sides to hear, but there was an angry sharpness to it, as if he were always mad at something or someone. Kariudo smiled and stepped forwards.

"I was going to let you do the honours, Akisu-kun."

"I see," he replied, stepping forwards. Kariudo stepped forwards as well, but Akisu suddenly stopped, vanishing. _What?! _she thought, glancing around. She soon spotted him though, standing at the head of the Leaf's army, beside the Hokage.

"This battle is between the Leaf and the Sound, the Akatsuki plays no part in it. Please remove yourself from our presence, or I will kill you," he said, standing. The Sound's side was perfectly still, not beleiving what had just happened._ Was he a spy? _she thought, narrowing her eyes.

"Orochimaru-sama will punish you for this, Akisu-kun," said the silver-haired man from the Sound in a calm voice. Akisu did not acknowledge him.

"Your kind is the worst, Akisu-kun," said Kariudo in a mocking voice. "To betray your own country like this... Unspeakable. You deserve nothing less than death, filthy brat."

"I'm betraying my country? No, I was with the Leaf this entire time. I have been loyally spying for them for the past three years. You are worse than I am, and for that, I will wipe you off the face of this earth!"

With his last words, he launched himself towards Kariudo, who remained in the exact same position, simply staring at the other man mockingly. But Akisu suddenly pulled out the katana, the metal flashing in the sunlight as he descended on Kariudo. All humour suddenly left Kariuda's face, as he jumped back, but Raine knew it was too late for that. _This... This should be my fight_, she thought, suddenly moving forwards with a speed that could only belong to the Aohane. She skidded to a halt between the two men as a single, silver orb appeared before her, sending sparks flying as the katana connected with it and Akisu landed on the ground a few feet away, still no recognition in his bright, yellow eyes._ The orbs should have been a dead giveaway_, she thought almost angrily.

"Please, Kariudo-san. Let me begin this battle."

"...If you wish to do so, then please do, Raine."

"Raine?!"

Too late. Before Akisu could wipe the expression of shock from his young face, she had charged him, the other twenty-three orbs appearing around her as she began furiously attacking him. The war had begun. The other sides launched into their own battles, jumping across the canyon faces and engaging in battle with eachother. She suddenly jumped backwards and launched towards her former companion fron a new direction, but instead of dodging it, this time he brought up his swords, swinging it in an arc towards her. But she was ready. She whipped out her last fan from inside of the Akatsuki cloak, bringing it up to block the blade and trying to overpower Akisu, who still looked shocked.

"Raine, it's me, Akisu," he hissed, trying to force her back as well.

"No shit," she growled. But there was a hint of fear in her voice.

* * *

_"The Aohane was the basic experiment, the first experiment, but Hikaru is a more advanced version of the same concept. But the Aohane still has it's advantages-there are no side affects for using its powers, at least none too severe, and it can be called upon easily, at will. The Hikaru, however, will put great strain on whichever capsule it is placed in."_

_"But I thought the capsule got away. Ran."_

_"Keh," he scoffed, lowering his chopsticks. "The capsule was a two-year-old kid who couldn't even walk probably. My dad stole him."_

_"What? Why?"_

_"Well... Mum was the one to steal him in the first place, so he's just reclaiming what's his. But he knows what she did to him. I almost feel sorry for the kid, when he grows up he'll have a harder time in life than you have right now. He's like you, accept he's easier to hate."_

_

* * *

_

_He has the Hikaru, and he could beat me if he wanted, so I'll have to make this quick, before he gets serious. If worse comes to worse, I can always use _that... She jumped back and released the seal, throwing off her Akatsuki cloak as the charcoal-black armour shot over her body, leaving only her stomach, neck, and the backs of her legs exposed. She winced slightly as the wings broke the skin on her back, growing outwads through the two, small holes in her armour, showering dark-blue feathers around her. Akisu caught only a glimpse of her blood-red eyes before she charged again, flicking up the visor on her helmet to see more clearly.

But this time, he was ready as well. At the speed she was travelling, she failed to notice a subtle change in his eyes. They had changed from their normal, golden colour to a striking, emerald green. As she brought her clawed hands towards his neck, they met his katana, and she struggled to overpower him for the second time. But, as if she were nothing more than an insect, he suddenly fully released the seal and threw her back into the air. She spun backwards a number of times before snapping her wings back and righting herself, landing on another cliff and facing him. The last time she had seen the Hikaru, it had been on her side, saving her before she hit the surface of the ocean. But this time... This time, things were different.

The Hikaru was a much more magnificent being than the Aohane, it looked almost angelic. The seal had not been fully released, or else it would be attacking her at the moment, it was only half released, but it had still taken over Akisu's physical appearance. He had a helmet almost identical to her own, along with armour that encased most of his body, but it was not black and scarred like her own, but smooth and silver. He was facing her, looking her directly in the eye with his emerald orbs, and her eyes travelled up and down the pair of ivory-white feathered wings that reached above him, folded neatly. His katana was pointed directly at her where she was crouched, and they simply stared at eachother for a few moments.

"Don't fight me, Raine," he said almost angrily. "I will just end up killing you."

"I'd like to see you try," she retorted, almost in a snarl.

"...You know the power of the Hikaru, I could easily overpower you."

"You have not seen the true strength of the Aohane. It was made differently than the Hikaru, with many disadvantages, but there are a few key things that can give me the advantage. You can't kill me, asshole."

His katana lowered slightly as he examined her with his emerald eyes. "What made you turn to these people? Why-"

"Shut up!" she almost yelled, standing and falling into a fighting stance. "Everyone always asks me that! You wanna know what made me snap? It was you! It's your fault I've turned into this monster! But now... Now there is no escape. The only thing left to do is kill you!"

With her last words, she launched directly up into the air, giving a short yell of anger as she released the seal completely, something she had done only once or twice before. The result was instantaneous. Her mind went suddenly numb, and she could feel the chakra pumping through her in phenomenal amounts, so overwhelming she almost became drunk on the power for a few seconds. Her vision sharpened incredibly, and the world around her seemed to slow as she sped up. But she currently had little control over the main body. It was being controlled almost entirely by the Aohane.

She suddenly pitched in to a freefall, beating her wings hard as she plunged towards the Hikaru with unimaginable speed. It took less than half a second for her to reach the Hikaru, but when she connected, it was with the hard rock instead of the other's flesh. She made no effort to break, simply smashing directly in to the stone and shattering it as if it were nothing but thin glass. she caught a glimpse of silver to her left and did not hesitate to pursue it.

She chased Akisu through the battles around them, taking down many other shinobi in the process as they two streaks of black and silver wove in and out. Akisu suddenly took off into the ar, and she followed, beating her wings hard and attempting to overake him. But it was at that time that Kariudo released her worst nightmare.

"Kuro Umi no Jutsu!"

She swerved just in time as a large blast of water exploded from the direction Kariudo's voice had come from. This jutsu had been created by the fourth Mizukage, and he had stolen it and improved it. The water formed in to a gigantic, inescapable wave that crashed over the cliffs and rocky outcroppings of the canyon, flooding the cracks and easily overtaking all who were caught in its path. As the wave slowed and welled up into a large, black body of water, the remaining ninja were forced to fight on it's surface, forcing a constant flow of chakra to their feet to support themselves. Raine scoffed, beating her wings hard to avoid getting anywhere near the black water. Water and her did not get along very well.

Before she could re-locate Akisu, he smashed into her left side, knocking her off balance and nearly in to the black body of water below, had she not caught herself at the last possible second, bringing her wings back and flipping back to face Akisu, who was charging her again. She flew to meet him, raising her clawed hands as they clashed in mid-air. His katana twisted oddly as she clashed with it, and it suddenly lost all solidity, changing in to a thick-bodied, purple snake that wrapped around her arms.

"What the-?!" Akisu smashed into her again, before she could remove the snake and free her hands. A few moments later, their positions were reversed, with Raine doing the running, and Akisu chasing after her. She struggled with the snake, but it did not seem to want to give. She paused for a moment, before chakra exploded out from her wrists, forcing the snake off, where it was caught by Akisu as a katana again.

A shadow dashed in front of her and she had no time to swerve, both her and the shadow ending up falling towards the sea. She looked over the person, just about to kill him, before she recognized him. He had light brown, almost blonde hair and hard, grey eyes that were staring back at her fearlessly.

"Sora?" she said, remembering when she had met him three years ago in the Leaf when she had met Akisu. She used his body to launch herself back in to the air and make a number of seals, locating Akisu quickly.

"Katon: Ryuho no Jutsu!" A red orb appeared in front of her as she drew in a deep breath, bringing a seal up to her lips and exhaling. Fire exploded from from her, tripling in size as it contacted the orb, and burning everything in front of her, englufing Akisu completely in flame._ I'm not done_, she thought, making another string of seals.

"Suiton: Suikoden no Jutsu!" A dark blue orb appeared before her this time, and instead of fire, a torrent of water exploded from her mouth, plunging directly in to the center of the flames. _And one more!_

"Suiton: Iteru no Jutsu!" When she exhaled this time, a clear, condensed fog escaped her mouth, engulfing the torrent of water. Upon contanct, the water froze completely, falling into the black water below as if it were a giant ice cube. But before she could celebrate her victory, the surface of the ice broke, and a silver shape streaked towards her, driving the blade of the katana deep into the side of her stomach and out the back. There was a moment when time seemed to freeze.

Akisu had both hands around the handle of the blade, and she had her hands on the blade itself, her face showing the shock she was in._ That should have killed him... _She tilted backwards slightly, and felt the blade slide from her side, the tip finally leaving her body as she tumbled backwards, her muscles frozen in shock. _How can he still be here?_ She had not been pannicking, not until she tilted fully upside-down and saw the black pool approaching. But her wings were frozen, they simply would ot respond. She closed her eyes, wrapping her arms around herself as the water approached faster and faster, until she thought that it would be the impact itself that would kill her.

She had not expected the liquid to be so cold. As soon as she hit the surface, she began sinking, the armour dragging her down deeper and deeper. It was only a matter of seconds before the dark water became devoid of all light, and she found herself in a very familiar situation.

* * *

_She slipped. Her right foot simply slid forwards on the stone, followed by her left as she shot out her arms for balance, but it was too late. She hit the stone hard, her head connecting with the icy surface as her feet hit cold water. Her head had hit the stone hard though, and the moment it connected, everythin went black. Again._

_Everything was cold and black as she stirred. Her limbs were numb and seemed paralyzed from the impossible cold water, and her eyes snapped open as she realized what had just happened. Water. It filled her lungs and stung her eys, chilling her to the bone. She was under water. She could see the light of the surface above her and the botomless darkness beneath her, threatening to swallow her up. She was moving quickly downstream as she began struggling, but her clothes seemed to slow her movements and drag her further into the dark depths._

* * *

But she knew, this time, there would be no hands. She was too frozen to even struggle, so she simply sunk deeper and deeper. The pressure caused her ears to pop over and over, and she finally opened her eyes and asped for breath, the ice-cold liquid rushing into her hungry lungs and filling every part of her, suffocating her. She tried to cough, but all there was was water. Water and cold and darkness and... pain. Her side was screaming in pain, and she could taste the water around her, which was salty from the amount of blood in it.

_You are so weak_, she thought, her attempts at struggling fading. She fell still, her hair flowing around her as she looked up with half-closed eyes. _You can't save yourself? Why have you become so weak? Why must you always depend on other people to save you? There is... no one to save you this time. No hands to pull you from this water. No one._ She could almost feel herself slipping away, her eyes closing further and further, until they were completely sealed. But something happened then that she had not expected.

She hit the bottom. her body came to a rest on the stone floor of the canyon, and her eyes opened again to stare up at the pale light coming from above, from the surface of the water. _So weak._ She could feel something burning, weighing her down, and she moved her hand slightly to grasp the necklace, the Ikichi. Her eyes suddenly snapped wide open_. I can use _that! _It's the only way out of here.... I have to kill Akisu... Kariudo ordered it.... Kill him.... _Her eyes began to slip closed again, but she forced them open, grasping the Ikichi tightly. _No, I have to keep going, finish what I've started!_

The Ikichi suddenly exploded in light that seeped in to the darkness around her, repelling it. there was no going back now. The water around her shot away, flying up around her as she coughe up water and sucked in the oxygen as fast as she could. The black water was hovering around her, kept at bay by the Ikichi, until she rasped the next words, the words to complete the technique she had been forbidden to perform.

"Kinjutsu! Nijushi Youso Betsushori Kyuutai: Gyou gappei..." (Forbidden Technique! 24 Elemental Orbs: Elemental Merge technique.)

The water around her completely exploded, the small droplets flying everywhere as she raised her wings and shot up after it, following the twenty-four orbs circling above her as she rose above the canyon again. Every muscle in her body was screaming at her to stop, to just fall back to the earth, but she was not moving of her own accord. It was neither her, nor the Aohane that was currently in control, but the orbs and the Ikichi, forcing her higher and higher above the battle until the orbs stopped. She had not expected it to be so incredibly painful, and when it came, she nearly blacked out in mid-air.

The twenty-four orbs had suddenly surrounded her completely, closing in closer and closer until they connected with her skin and the black armour. They seemed to pause for a moment, before melting in to her, sinking into her body or into the armour until only a small fraction of the orb was above the surface, glowing dimly. But that was not what hurt. After twenty-three of the orbs had melted into her body, she noticed the last one hovering directly before her. It was a dark, deep purple, almost black orb. The psychic orb. She had not nearly mastered using it, and had only used it once before, as it was the hardest to manipulate. For a few moments, the orb seemed as if it were not going to move, but before she could relax, it shot forwards, through the visor of her helmet, and into her forehead.

She immediately crumpled into a small ball, clutching her head as if someone had just smashed somwthing over it. The pain was so incredibly intense that she could not scream. Her throat tightened to the point at which she thought she would either vommit or suffocate, and her breathing stopped for a few seconds. She was falling again, but this time, she was prepared.

A few moments before she hit the surface of the water, which was slowly draining away, her wings shot open again as she regained control, skimming the surface before pulling up and quickly locating Akisu, who was waiting and watching her. The jutsu was complete, and for the next few minutes, she was literally invincible. But there would be a large price to pay afterwards. She pushed the thought from her mind and descended upon Akisu with a new killing intent.

He had apparently been unprepared for the ferocity in which she attacked him with, as if she had infinite speed and stamina. She landed and charged him on foot, slashing at him left and right and quickly forcing him back further and further. Her attacks did not slow down in the least, insted speeding up to a blurringly-fast pace, until she finally landed a hit on his right shoulder. The moment her right hand connected with the armour, fire exploded around it, nearly engulfing him as the orb which was embedded in to her right hand took effect, activating and searing the skin beneath his armour. He grunted and turned, taking flight and streaking away.

When he circled around, his eyes had taken on a new look, burning with a hatred that could not be his own. Raine noticed, but didn't care. Even the Hikaru fully released was not currently as powerful as herself when using this jutsu. She streaked towards him at the exact same pace, and the two forces met in mid-air, chakra and fire exploding from where they clashed, sending them both backwards. Raine recovered first, shaking her head and taking off after him again. The moment he turned, he was met with her left hand, the water orb activating and blasting him back before forming into a number of spiked icicles that showered down on him, several finding their target and slicing deep into his chest, arms and legs. She dropped to the ground and brought her leg around as he took flight, circling and diving at her, somehow managing to pierce her left shoulder. But instead of hesitating, she quickly grabbed the blade, and electricity crackled out from her palm, travelling up the blade to his arm and forcing him to drop the sword.

She pulled the blade out and tossed it in to the canyon below, charging him again as he prepared his next attack, but she suddenly halted, spinning around in mid charge to look behind her. For the first tie, she caught a glimpse of the battles around her. Hundreds upon hundreds of shinobi lay dead or dying on the cliffs, others still fighting, with bload soaking everything, dripping from the rock and staining what was left of the dark water a deep, blood red. But it was not the war in general that she had broken her concentration for.

On the highest cliff to her left stood four of the nine Akatsuki, at their head Kariudo lifting a slightly smaller figure up by the collar of his black and orange jacket. It was her half-brother, Naruto. As Kariudo brought back his right hand dripping in chakra, something hit her hard in the gut, knocking the air from her lungs and sending her flying backwards. But her mind was still on her brother. Her eyes widened suddenly as she flipped fully around, landing cat-like and skidding to a halt as she processed what she had just seen._ The Kyuubi! _She thought, her mind racing._ Kariudo is going to release the Kyuubi! If that happens, everyone on both sides will be crushed along with the village!_

She knew, along with everyone else in the war, the exact second the seal was released. A dangerous energy surrounded her, the air around her suffocating and crushing her with the energy that pulsed through it. The temperature seemed to rise several degrees in the few seconds it took for the energy to fill the entire battlefield, and moments later, the momentary silence was shattered by an ear-splitting screech, followed by a miniature earthquake that threw her off balance before she took flight._ Not good_, she thought anxiously. But there was no time to examine the large, red-furred demon that was forming below, because Akisu, completely driven by the Hikaru's will, met her in the air once more.

She backpeddalled quickly, dodging an attack from the Hikaru that had enough energy to kill her._ What?! _her head spun around to see Akisu surrounded in a dark red energy almost alike to that of the Kyuubi's, and his eyes were glaring directly in to her own. _What is this? _His speed had increased tenfold, matching her own, and they were now evenly matched, parrying through the air in a complicated dance of death. One slip-up and they would die. One hit and all would end. There was no option other than to continue fighting, if she paused, she would be killed, and if she tried to run, she would be killed as well.

"Stop... Stop it!" she grunted, avoiding blow after blow as she was pushed back further and further. "Stop it or we'll both be killed!"

The words just seemed to be meaningless noise that bounced off his head and had no effect. That alone told her he was completely gone. _Asshole_, she thought, narrowly avoiding a blow to her neck. _I'll just have to..._ She brought chakra to her right hand, ducking and bringing it up into his chest, where fire exploded, throwing him back and sending him spinning towards the earth, the feathers of his white wings singed and smoking. But she suddenly noticed what was heading directly for Akisu.

"Akisu!"

There was a blur of blood-red fur and burning, slitted eyes, followed by a muzzle full of thick, pointed teeth dripping with saliva. The Kyuubi was ripping through the shinobi's ranks, but it broke its concentration to pounce towards the small, smoking, white and silver object that was Akisu, which was falling towards him, trying to regain control of his broken and battered wings. Before she could make up her mind, she found herself winging towards Akisu's falling form at an incredible speed. She snapped her wings back as Akisu slammed into her, bringing her wings up and beating upwards. But it was too late by then.

The Kyuubi's claws slammed into her left side, ripping through the armour as if it were wet paper and flinging her through the air as if she were a fly. She momentarily lost conciousness from the immediate pain and shock, but found her vivion again as she was headed towards the ground. She had her arms wrapped around Akisu as they smashed into the stone with such incredible force that the stone shattered, flying up around them as she released Akisu. When she hit, her limp body was tossed aside, rolling over and over before falling still on her left side, covered from head to toe in blood.

When she opened her eyes, she saw Akisu standing, still glaring angrily at her as if nothing had happened, still surrounded in the dark red aura, as if ready to kill her. She struggled up to continue with the fight as well, managing to prop her aching body up with her left elbow, before freezing again. There was a loud cracking noise, and she felt the ground shift slightly, her eyes falling on the small crater she and Akisu had left upon impact. There was a large, deep crack running along the rock, cutting off the section where she lay from the main part of the cliff, and she knew from that what was about to happen._ That's it, _she thought simply, lowering herself back to the ground. She lay her head on the cold, blood-soaked stone and let her wings fall messily around her as she simply gave up. _This is too much work._

The red aura around Akisu faded suddenly as the cliff gave a few more inches, the rubble around her sliding into the dark void below. The water had drained by now, leaving nothing that could possible break her fall._ I give up_, she thought, her body shaking uncontrollably because of the unbearable pain. Akisu was no longer glaring at her, but he seemed caught between two things. He took a step forwards as the cliff nearly broke completely off, and she tensed in anticipation.

"Baka," she growled in annoyance.

"Raine-"

She squeezed her eyes shut and her tomach lurched as the cliff broke completely and she plunged into darkness. She made no effort to manipulate her hopelessly broken body against the flow of stone that followed after her, simply letting it carry her faster and faster into the abyss below. She no longer cared, her time was up. _Dammit_, she thought, trying to stop herself from shaking. _I don't want to die yet._


	13. Chapter 13

The impact of hitting the bottom of the void had a dull shock behind it, but her body was beyond feeling pain. But it did not stop her from feeling the cold, icy liquid that seeped over her body, over her legs and the lower half of her body. From her shoulders down, she had somehow landed in a pool of water, her body half-ways out of the icy liquid. This feeling was getting old, she no longer cared about what happened next, she simply wanted it to end. As a child, she had always thought death would be simple: perhaps a bit of pain, a sick feeling, and then darkness forever. This was nothing close to what she expected. Her eyes were partially open, and the smell of blood and death was thick around her. It was made worse by the fact that she could feel the blood leaving her body, as if her life were a handful of sand that was slipping through her fingers as she watched helplessly.

She felt sick, her throat was tight, and her stomach was churning uncomfortably because of what was running through her mind. She could not feel pain, but she could feel worse. She could tell there was something wrong with her left arm, and her left leg, they felt numb and cold. She could also feel warm blood dripping from her mouth, falling steadily onto the stone soundlessly. After a few moments of laying perfectly still and waiting from her death to come, she decided it would be a longer wait than she had expected. She shifted her right hand and placed it over her left side where they Kyuubi had completely shredded the armour, clothing and skin. Her thin, cold fingers dug deep into the fatal wound, the warm blood seeping over them as she half-heartedly attempted to stop the bleeding. It was useless.

_Why? _she thought, narrowing her eyes further and swallowing hard_. Why did I do that? Why did I not simply let him die? If I had let him die, I would still be alive. Itai...Itai, itai, itai... It hurts so much._ She felt the burning chakra that had been coursing through her body suddenly fall away along with the Aohane's image, the twisted, broken and dented armour of her left side vanishing along with the dark blue wings. Her breaths were not short, or strained, but so incredible shallow she did not even know if she was breathing at all.

She did not know how long she lay there for, simply staring into the darkness before her, until she felt a different warmth on the hand that she was clutching her side with. There were two other hands there, frantically pressing into the wound and scrambling despreately to stop the bleeding. She blinked a few times, forcing her head to turn to see a dark figure hovering over her.

"...Akisu? What are you... doing here" he said nothing, but she felt her own hand removed from the wound as he pressed something into it, cloth perhaps, wrapping it tightly around her thin body. But she knew it would be in vain, there was no possible way anyone, demon or no, could survive damage as severe as this.

"Why did you do that? Why did you get in the way" he asked angrily, pulling her slightly from the water and onto his lap.

"It... Was instinct... I guess." She forced out, a hint of annoyance in her voice as her eybrows furrowed. But all anger vanished from her mind as she looked up at Akisu's face. There were two, moist paths running down his cheeks as his now yellow eyes darted across her shredded side and arm, his hands tentatively running over her skin, feeling out the size of the wound. He was crying. His hands faltered, and she heard him sigh in frustration, although his voice was shakey and weak. The wound ran from her left shoulder down to the elbow of her left arm, and her side, from just below her left shoulder all the way to part way down her thigh, and the blood flowing out of her didn't seem to slow in the least.

"Stop it" she said in annoyance, closing her eyes.

"What"

"Stop... doing that."

"...Doing what"

"Stop crying" she snapped finally. It cost her extra blood as she crumpled in pain, coughing hard. Akisu did nothing, simply staring at her, his hands soaked in blood as he came up empty-handed for something to do. She fell still after a few moments, her breathing seeming to stop completely.

"Raine" he whispered. She could hear him, but did not feel like speaking with him. "Raine"

"What" she growled. She did not want to be seen like this, broken and bleeding, dying in his hands. _His_ hands of all people.

"I...I'm sorry." The words were so simple, she could have laughed had she been able to.

"...Sorry? Three years of suffering and all you have to say is 'I'm sorry'" The words were cruel and harsh, and she almost regretted saying them.

"I... Before... I remember what happened, you ran off into the snow after what you saw... It wasn't what you thought, I would never do that. It was just"

"I know already" she said, coughing a few times again. "I know..."

"Then why..."

"...I was just looking for an excuse to run. I was already trapped, but seeing that made me snap. I knew..."

"I felt so horrible after that, I couldn't stop thinking about what happened. I thought I would never see you again, that you had died after the second year."

"Then why didn't you come looking for me"

"I lost hope... I thought you had died."

"You didn't care about what happened to me, otherwise you would have chased me the moment I ran."

"I did! There wasn't a single night that I didn't think about you, but without someone to go with me, I had no motivation to go after you. The world is dangerous when your by yourself."

"...Please leave me alone" she whispered, clenching her teeth. "I don't want you to see me like this. Just go away."

For a few moments, she actually thought he would leave her. But instead of standing and simply walking away, which would have made things simple and easy for her, he pulled her closer, wrapping his arms loosely around her and pulling her close, still trying to staunch the flow of blood from her side. She felt her eyes stinging in a way they had not for years, and she swallowed hard, trying to hold back the tears. _Why couldn't he just get up and leave me alone?_ she thought angrily, the tears finally overflowing and silently running down her cheeks. Her long-fingered, cold hands grabbed fistfuls of his shirt as she struggled to hold back her tears, and to keep herself silent, but it was useless, as they came anyways.

"I'm so sorry" she whispered, swalloiwing hard agian. "I really didn't mean to run. It just happened. I ruined life for both of us."

"It's not your fault..."

"Lies... Before, every time, I really wanter to ask you... What you thought of me as. I just wanted to say 'Akisu, what do you think of me as? Are we just friends? Or do you feel the same about me as I do about you?' and I always hoped that perhaps there was a small chance that you would say 'No... I feel the same as you do.' But every time I started, I couldn't say it because i was afraid you would think I was crazy. but I guess... now it doesn't matter anymore. I've lost my chance. The only thing left for me is death."

"I... Those were the exact words I was saving for you, but you never said anything." She swallowed hard again, releasing his shirt and shakily reaching for the chain around her neck, pulling the Ikichi off. It was useless to her now, but there was still a small chance if she were to give it to him. She reached up and slipped it around his neck, dropping her hands and letting out a shaky breath. _I don't want to die,_ she thought. _Maybe... Maybe if I do this, I can still live. Maybe if I do this I can survive._

"Take the Ikichi" she whispered. "And use the orbs for yourself. They're yours now."

"I thought... Only you could use them" he said quietly, shifting slightly.

"Its... Only people with my blood."

"You're the only one with your blood, you are" he said. She lifted her hand and touched her lips, bringing her hand away. It was smeared with blood. She looked up at him, to where a small trickle of blood was running down from the corner of his mouth. _If I just..._

She shifted suddenly, gripping his shirt shakily in her left hand and slipping her other hand around his neck, swallowing hard and parting her lips slightly. He leaned forwards as well, gently brushing her lips with his own, before pressing them together slowly. She could taste the new blood in her mouth instantly, and she nearly gagged and began coughing again, but she held the kiss to the fullest before she could no longer support herself and fell back into his lap. He lifted her again though, gently wrapping her up and cradling her, and she nestled closer, resting her head on his chest. The air around them smelt so thickly of blood, it was overwhelming, almost too much for her.

"You have my blood as well" she whispered, almost inaudibly. Her breathing had slowed incredibly, and she was no longer shaking. Her eyes had become even more dull than they already were, the pale, clouded blue fading into light grey, almost white, and she finally gave up completely. No, this was nothing like what she had expected death to be like.

* * *

Akisu felt her body relax suddenly, her shoulders sagging slightly and a single, silent breath escaping her lips. He stared down at her half-closed, clouded eyes, not wanting to believe what had happened. She could not die. Not now. This was the first time in three years he had seen her, and she ended up dying on him. It wasn't fair. He held her slightly further away from himself, swallowing hard and brushing a few strands of dark hair from her face. Her skin was so incredibly pale, it would pass for white.

"...Raine" he shook her gently, but he already knew it was too late. She was completely gone from this world. The Ikichi she had placed around his neck felt like lead, weighing him down. He shakily reached up and brushed her cheek, pulling away quickly. She was so cold. It sent shivers down his spine. He had killed many people in the last few years, and was used to seeing them die, but not like this, never like this. His eyes moved to her forehead, where a small part of a dark purple orb was visible, barely above the skin, the only one left over from the jutsu she had performed. The orbs that had been embedded into her hands had dissolved almost completely, but he watched in confusement as they faded from whichever colour they were into small, neat black lines. On her right hand, where the fire orb had been, the red of the orb faded into a small, neat kanji that read 'Fire'.

He finally moved again, after simply staring for a few minutes, gently closing her eyes and brushing the remainder of the hair from her face. This simply could not be happening, he refused to believe it. He slipped one arm behind her knees and the other around her shoulders, lifting her slowly from the ground and looking around. Above him there was still light streaming down from above, and the sounds of war had stopped. He could no longer hear the growls of the Kyuubi or the shouts of shinobi. He fell into a crouch and lifted his wings, beating down hard and lifting off into the air, climbing straight up with much difficulty due to the added weight of Raine. But she wasn't all that heavy, in fact, she barely weighed anything at all. He crested the cliff and looked around blankly at the tremendous amount of destruction around him.

The cliffs were all shattered, crumbling away, with dead shinobi from both sides, although no dead Akatsuki were visible. In fact, as he turned to his left, he nearly jumped in shock as someone landed behind her.

"Raine wasn't strong enough... yeah. I didn't think she was so... fragile...yeah" came a voice from behind. Akisu remained facing the other way, frozen and staring ahead. There were people behind him.

"You killed her then, Akisu-kun? How unfortunate" came Kariudo's voice. He turned slightly to view the eight remaining Akatsuki. They seemed, for the most part, unscathed, save for the one with silver hair and the animal-like look in his eyes. He was leaning heavily on the largest of the group, with his shoulders bleeding thickly, but he seemed to be fine. His hands automatically tightened around Raine's body as he took a step back.

"I see she used the Ikichi to the fullest" commented a shrewd-looking man to the left of Kariudo.

"What do you want" said Akisu finally, narrowing his eyes.

"Nothing. We're done here. We're leaving" said Kariudo simply, but he remained facing Akisu.

"What do you want with her" he asked, noticing Kariudo staring down at Raine.

"Nothing. It's just a shame she had to die. She was simply too weak." Akisu said nothing, staring Kariudo directly in the eye for a few moments, until Kariudo turned slightly.

"Don't do anything you might regret, Akisu-kun" warned Kariudo, looking at him from the corner of his eye. "I want to fight you when you become stronger. She gave you the Ikichi for a reason, and you will need to be willing to make sacrifices to use that."

"What the hell are you talking about"

"You can still save her if you just use your head for once. Try it, it might make you smarter."

"What" he growled angrily, tired of this man's voice.

"You are your father's son, so act like it, Akisu." Akisu's face softened and he took a few steps back in shock as Kariudo began changing before his eyes, his form falling away as he released whichever jutsu he had been using on himself to change his appearance. A few seconds later, Kariudo no longer stood before him, but in his place was a slightly shorter woman with odd red eyes and a long wave of black, glossy hair. She smirked at him staring him directly in the eye, before turning and walking away with the rest of the Akatsuki.

"Ayame..." he whispered in shock.

"Use your head, Akisu-kun, and both you and her will see me again. Things are just warming up, this is far from over. And remember, everything is controlled by emotion. Try loving" said the beautiful woman, vanishing in a puff of smoke. The seven other Akatsuki followed suit, vanishing completely and leaving Akisu alone again. He sunk to the ground, not knowing what else to do about this, and looked down at Raine. She looked so peaceful and pale and still, as if she were a statue. _Save her? _he thought, narrowing his eyes. He lay her gently on the ground and reched up to touch the Ikichi around his neck_. "You have my blood as well." Does that mean I can actually manipulate the orbs? _His hand tightened around the small stone on the end of the chain as he closed his eyes, thinking hard. He had asked her once... Once before, years ago, about the Ikichi, but he couldn't remember exactly what she had said.

( f l a s h b a c k )

_They were sitting together in complete silence, neither of them able to sleep. Raine was sitting in front of him, her left side facing him as she stared off into the distance, lost in thought. Akisu noticed the Ikichi glint in the moonlight from where it hung around her neck, and his mind wandered off in thought as well, trying to comprehend the possible power that small peice of jewelry could have in the right hands._

_"How does it work" he asked suddenly, voicing his thoughts. Raine snapped out of her daze and looked oddly at him._

_"What"_

_"The Ikichi. How does it work" he repeated, still looking curiously at the multicoloured jewel on its thin silver chain. She sat back and it fell onto her chest, glinting in the moonlight again before she lifted it off her neck, holding it loosely in her left hand, entwined between her long fingers._

_"I'm not quite sure. My mother made it for my hands only. No one else can use it except for me."_

_"But... what about the orbs, then? How can you control them"_

_She handled the necklace for a few moments, before turning to him and replying. "It took a long time to learn. I still don't know how to completely control them. I can use twenty-four of the elemental orbs, but there were originally thirty elements. The first six were easy to learn, just fire, water, earth, air, light and darkness, the basic elements. Then there were the other, more complicated ones. Poison, healing, time, gravity, moon, sun, ice and electricity. After those came the weaker elements, psychic, shadow, metal, wood, growth, protection, blood and spirit. I never really understood those last ones. Then, at the end of those, was life and death, the two hardest elements to master. There were six elements I either chose not to learn or that were far too difficult. Those were pain, pressure, heat, illusion, star and summoning."_

_"How did you learn, then"_

_"Practice... Using them came naturally because it's in my blood, but in order to be able to use an orb at all, you need to kind of... unlock it I guess. To do that, you have to understand at least half of the things that make up an element. Fire would be the easiest to learn, for example. It is a male element and represents the north direction. It is made up of destruction, doom, dynamic change, heat, anger, fear, destruction and creation, vibrant forces, pure energy, spiritual forces, power, passion, suffering, pain, change, resurection and the Phoenix. It was the first element I learned to control, and by far the easiest. But others were nto so easy. For example, the Life element was most likely the hardest for me to learn. It was basically made up of three simple things, life, order and creation, but for Life and death, there is something else that you must do to manipulate them. Each element other than life or death belongs to one of them. Death is made up of water, air, darkness, poison, time, moon, shadow, metal, protection, ice, spirit, pressure, illusion and summoning. In order to use Death, I had to learn at least a little about each of the elements that make it up. That's why life and death were so hard to learn."_

( e n d . f l a s h b a c k )

_Water, air, darkness, poison, time, moon, shadow, metal, protection, ice, spirit, pressure, illusion and summoning... for death. Then, the ones left over must be for life...? Fire, earth, light, healing, gravity, sun, psychic, wood, growth, electricity, blood, pain, star and heat..._ He held out his hands above her body and concentrated hard, trying to focus on that specific element. He felt a strange power stir within him, and it burned through his arms, forming a small explosion between them as a red orb appeared between his palms. It was the orb of fire. _"It was the first element I learned to control, and by far the easiest." Great_, he thought in frustration, glaring at the hovering, small red ball before him. _All I can come up with is the most basic of the elements_.

The orb simply hovered before him tauntingly, and he reached for it, grasping it between his index finger and thumb gently. It radiated an odd power, but after a few moments of holding it, it vanished like a popped bubble. He stared at the empty space before him for a few moments, before closing his eyes again and concentrating hard. When he opened his eyes, there was still the same, single orb before him. He repeated this several times, only managing to form fire and water orbs, along with what he supposed was an air orb once, but he was getting nowhere._ Dammit_, she thought, ready to snap. calm down, he thought, taking a deep breath. His mind wandered to his mother. She had been leading the Akatsuki the entire time. _What had she said before she left? _he thought. _"And remember, everything is controlled by emotion. Try loving." Emotion? _He looked helplessly down at Raine's still body. The sun was beginning to set, and the temperature was dropping quickly. It had been hours since he had found her at the bottom of the canyon. He doubted now, even if he were able to form the life orb, that she would ever see him again. He pulled her closer, running a hand through her hair and gently cradling her, closing his eyes.

"I'm so sorry, Raine" he whispered into her hair. Her skin was so cold, it was unnatural, like ice that would never melt. He was just about ready to crumble, to snap and yell out, until another thought formed in his mind. There might be people able to save her. There was the Fifth and her apprentice, the two best medical-nin in the Fire country. he did not know if they could pull someone from the afterlife, bring them back to life, but sitting here was not going to do it either.

He quickly lifted Raine's limp body from the ground, noticing for the first time he was also fairly severely wounded, but ignoring the pain to look around. he could see no one of any importance around this area, so he turned to the only place her knew to look - the village. His wings were to broken and singed to fly any further, so he simply began running, taking a few slow steps before speeding up, using what was left of his energy and of the Hikaru's chakra to propel him towards Konoha. The wings slowed him down considerably, folded uselessly behind him, but he could not release the Hikaru's form. Not yet. If he did that, the side effects would set in, and he would be unable to move, so he simply remained in his current form, running as quickly as possible and jumping over the still-slick rock cliffs towards the village.

The walls were mostly crushed, and there was no shortage of dead bodies and injured shinobi laying here and there, draped over buildings, hanging from trees, their blood smeared across every solid surface that was visible. In fact, looking around, Akisu saw mostly Leaf-nin dead. He did not even know if his side had won this war, but he continued on, heading towards the Hokage's headquarters as fast as he could.

By the time he reached the door, the sun had set, and the world had become dark and cold. If possible, Raine felt even icier as he pushed through the doors and slowed in the main building. There was no one there. At all. It was dark and silent and empty. He stood still for a few moments, before his ears pricked up to the sound of voices in another room. Moving quickly, he headed towards the sound, down a hallway and towards the one door where light was streaming out from the small gap underneath.

When he opened it, he found only three people there. Actually four, but one was unconcious on a small table. He recognized the unconcious boy to be Naruto immediately, and he did not look good at all. His jacket had been completely shredded and his entire body was covered in deep gashes. The other three people he also recognized. The Godaime Tsunade and her apprentice Haruno Sakura, along with another medical-nin he had known as a gennin, Suteki.

"Akisu" shouted Suteki. The panic in her voice was evident. "What are you doing here"

"Please" he gasped, relaxing his grip on Raine a fraction, but still clutching her protectively. Suteki looked over Raine's body, her eyes widening further as she saw her completely shredded left side.

"Who..."

"Please take her" he nearly whispered. He had hardly any strength left, and even speaking had become work. A moment before he collapsed, she took Raine's body from him, laying her on the floor in front of him, he hands hovering over the girl's body.

"Who is this" she asked again, narrowing her eyes.

"Raine" he said simply.

"...Who's that" Akisu closed his eyes, remembering that Suteki had never been told her name.

"...The girl I left with" he said quietly. His head seemed clouded as he struggled to hold onto the Hikaru's form, refusing to release it and succumb to the side effects until Raine had been looked at.

"...Akisu, this girl... She's already dead" said Suteki, eyeing him oddly.

"Just look at her! Please..." he nearly shouted, the anger within him boiling up before he could think. She jumped at his voice, shakily looking back to Raine's body.

"Akisu, there is no way I can"

"Just take care of her, alright"

"Akisu! She's gone! Even if I could save her, I wouldn't. She is an Akatsuki"

Akisu ground his teeth, glaring directly into Suteki's emerald green eyes as if threatening to kill her. He clenched his fists, and she tensed, but he suddenly slumped down, lowering his head and letting his fists fall away. He reached up and pulled off the lightweight, silver helmet from his head, letting it drop to the floor as he clutched the sides of his head, struggling with something inside of him.

"Akisu"

"Please" he whispered, his hands shaking. They were covered in her blood. He was covered in her blood. It was everywhere. "Please..."

"Suteki-san" said Sakura quietly. "Please come here."

"But Akisu..."

"I'll look at her. please go to Naruto."

Suteki nodded and shakily stood, moving quickly away from Akisu as Sakura replaced her, crouching beside Akisu.

"Akisu" she whispered gently. His hands fell away and he closed his eyes. "Akisu."

"What"

"There's nothing you can do. She's already gone. Just let it go."

"I can't" he replied simply, still refusing to look at Raine's still body.

"You can't do anything about it, no matter what you try. If she somehow came back to life, I would be able to save her, and I would for you, but she cannot. She's lost already."

"No she isn't" he growled with a sudden vigor. His eyes snapped open and he spun, ready to explode at the pink-haired medical-nin, but he froze, his eyes focussing on what was between them. It was an orb. A pale, pearly, light-greenish orb. _Which is this...? _He manipulated the orb closer, hoping against hope it was the life orb. After a few moments of staring at it, he decided to test it, manuevering it towards Raine's body. As soon as it hovered above her, he lost control of it, and it fell from the air, halting just above her chest and doing nothing. He had almost given up, before it vanished in a puff of pure white smoke that drifted over her body.

"Raine..."

There was another moment of silence, broken suddenly by a low rasp. Her chest was moving. Just barely, but it was. It seemed to him that the rasps of her shallow breathing were the most wonderful thing he had ever heard, and he simply sat there listening to it, unawares that Sakura had moved into action without question, her experienced hands flying immediately to Raine's left side where they set to work.

"Everything is controlled by emotion, huh" he whispered, swallowing hard. There was a sudden sharp pain in his head that tore through his body as the Hikaru's form vanished, and he could no longer hold on, slipping into darkness he had not seen for a long time. It almost felt good to feel so much pain.


	14. Chapter 14

Raine was laying in a very uncomfortable hospital bed, staring up at the white ceiling warily. She had been staring at it for the last four hours, trying to remember what had happened before she had been put in here. Part of the reason being she could not move her neck. Her entire body, or almost her entire body, was bandaged and numb from anesthetic, but it did nothing to stop the pain. She was the Leaf's prisoner, but there were no chains. It would have been useless to chain her- she couldn't move in the first place. Sometimes the pain would become so violent that she felt she would vomit or cry out, but she always ground her teeth and bit the bullet, refusing to make any noise as the tears burned silently down her cheeks. The nurses knew she could speak, she just chose not to. There was a small breathing mask over her mouth as well, and to her left was a stand with three bags hanging from it, two filled with blood, and the third with water, each with a tube that dripped the liquid into her body. It was what was keeping her alive. Her hair had also been cut shorter, and probably wouldn't reach even to her shoulders if she were to stand.

In the last few days, no one had told her anything about anything. Not how long she had been there, or why they kept her alive, or how she had managed to live in the first place. The nurses were all silent, and no one of any importance had come to visit her. It was incredibly frustrating, so much that she felt like screaming for attention. It was simply not fair. Even..._ Even akisu has not come to visit me, _she thought bitterly. _Not that it matters. As soon as I can move at all, I'm getting out of here. The Leaf's numbers are halfed at least, and it should be easy to get past them at this time._

The pain hit again after a few moments of staring up at the ceiling, and she ground her teeth to try to deal with the pain. Her eyes automatically squeezed shut, and her breathing became irregular. She did not even know this kind of constant, inceassant, driving pain had existed, and almost wished she were still unconcious. That way she would not have to deal with it. Her eyes remained queezed shut and watering as the door to her room opened, and two people stepped in.

"Raine" said the first loudly, rushing in quickly. She immediately recognized the voice.

"...Ass...Asshole" she forced out, still trying to deal with the pain, her eyes squeezed as tightly shut as they could possibly be. There were a few moments of silence, before the second person shifted.

"I'll give you five minutes, Akisu-san" came a young woman's voice. She slowly left the room, closing the door behind her and leaving them in silence. Akisu remained in complete silence for what seemed like hours, until she thought he had left as well, and opened her eyes to see him sitting in a chair he had pulled up beside her bed. His head was hung slightly and his eyes were unfocussed on her left arm where the bandages were thick and slightly bloodsoaked. Although she could not move her head, she could see out of the corner of her eye that he was heavily bandaged as well, the visible parts of the bandages on his arms and wrists. She had apperently done at least some damage to him. _Good_, she thought, looking away.

"Raine" he whispered. She heard something catch in his throat, but said nothing. "There's something I have to tell you... The Gokages, the Fire, Wind, Cloud, Stone and Water Kages, have decided what to do with you, they have. They are still here in the Leaf, rebuilding and planning, and all five have decided..."

"Spit it out" she rasped quietly.

"They are going to execute you publicly if you do not come to terms with them." She said nothing, knowing already what the Kage's wanted from her. Information. Information on the Akatsuki and other things only she knew of. She would not give that away, not for the life of her.

"I will not speak. I'd rather die" she growled in annoyance. At least it would get her away from this man and this godforsaken village.

"Raine, just"

"Leave me alone. Get out now, I don't want you to be here" she said simply, closing her eyes. To her suprise, he stood in silence, without complain, and left, closing the door behind him with a louder-than-usual thud. She almost laughed. _He's finally getting frustrated. I knew no one could get by with so little anger_. But after another few minutes spent by herself, she almost wished he was there so that he could simply keep her company in this dull, silent place.

_I have to get out of here, _she thought, closing her eyes tightly._ I have to find the Akatsuki and get back in line with the rest of them. I'm behind in that. I need to get stronger and learn to control this new body, the elements that are now a part of me. If I get out at all, that is..._

* * *

It was night again in the hospital, and before she would go to sleep, one of the nurses came in to change her dressings. The breathing mask and most of the life-support machines had been removed long ago, and she now sat up as the nurse began undressing the wounds. Other than that one time over a month ago, Akisu, nor anyone else for that matter, had come to visit her, save for the nurses and doctors. But she had stopped caring.

She had not yet looked at the damage done to her body because she simply had chosen not to every time they came to change the bandages. She was afraid she would see something gruesome she would rather not see, and that had been an understatement as she looked upon it now. Her left arm, from the top of her shoulder down to halfway between her wrist and elbow, was deeply scarred and bruised, hopelessly shredded by the Kyuubi's claws. She felt faint simply looking at the amount of blood and the colour her skin had turned around the long, deep gashes. but that was nothing compared to her side. From just under her armpit, running over her bruised ribs, over her hip and to midway down her thigh were two, deep gashes that left phenomenal amounts of blood on the bandages as they were pulled off. She looked closer at what doctors had done to stop it, but as she looked at all the blood, she felt sick and turned away, letting the nurse finish bandaging it and replacing her shirt. She got the usual injections to numb the pain as much as possible, but it did not do much for her.

When the nurse finally left, she turned back to her left side, trying to move her arm. She could move it slightly, up and down, but her hand seemed dead, the fingers barely responding to her commands to move. Her leg seemed slightly better, as it was only torn at the thigh, but her arm and side were completely shredded, and she felt unsure as to whether or not she would ever be able to properly use them again. After a few moments of feeling as if she were going to be sick, Akisu's face sprung to mind, and she felt anger rising inside of her again. It was his fault she had ended up like this, his fault she was to be executed, and all he could do was mope about it, getting all sulkey and quiet. She scoffed, grinding her teeth in apparent anger and frustration, still glaring at her torn up side. The muscles were practically useless, the tissues torn and possibly ruined for life. She had not asked if she would be able to move properly again, although the nurses had muttered things about it every once and awhile. She did not want to ask, but she knew half of it already, and it wasn't good news.

She let her curiosity get the best of her again and began unwrapping the bandages from her hand up, wincing as the skin stuck slightly to the bandages. She timidly touched the deep slashes and cuts, and it felt unnatural for there to be so little feeling on the surface when it hurt so much in the inside. Her pale fingers ran shakily over it again and she lifted them to examine the blood. Without warning, the door to the room suddenly opened, and she jumped, hiding her unbandaged arm under the covers and looking up into Akisu's face. She could not tell what he was feeling at the moment, his face seemed serious, but then again, she could be wrong.

"What do you want" she asked, slightly more gentle than the last time he had visited. She hadn't noticed as much last time, but he was limping as he came to sit by her bed, and his arms were still bandaged heavily.

"Nothing" he said simply. "I just thought maybe you wouldn't be so pissed off by now."

She paused. He spoke alot more rough than when she had known him before, and she knew this was only half of it. Behind his sharp voice it almost seemed as if he were holding back his true personality. He had changed alot. Just like me, she thought, her hand absently returning to her left where the bandages were still hanging loosely. Akisu noticed the movement and lifted his head slightly, narrowing his eyes.

"Can I see" he asked quietly. She met his eyes for a split second, and could instantly tell he really didn't want to see what the damage was, but complied, lifting the covers and weakly holding out her arm to him. He gently took it, and she was shocked at how cold his hands were as they grazed the skin around the wound, sending shivers up her spine.

"What did they say about it" he asked, still examining her arm carefully.

"They just don't know. Itai..." she muttered as he touched a particulary sensitive part.

"Gomene" he said quickly, pulling his hand away and replacing her arm on the bed. She took it and rebandaged it in silence, wincing and tying the knot with her teeth.

"Really... Why did you come here" she repeated, narrowing her eyes in suspicion. He shifted, an odd expression on his face.

"They're going to do it tonight" he said simply.

"What"

"They're going to execute you."

Her heart skipped a few beats. She had not expected it to be so soon, in another month at least, but not today. Tonight of all nights, it had to be this day and not tomorrow or the day after? She met Akisu's eyes in panic, but he seemed to be stoic and emotionless, as if he didn't care about her anymore. She sat up fully, wincing at the pain in her side, struggling to get her legs over the side of the bed. She wore hospital clothes- black pants and a black t-shirt, with bare feet that touched lightly on the cold floor shakily.

"Then I have to get out of here" she said, trying to keep her voice from shaking. Akisu stood quickly, moving over to the other side of the bed and trying to make her stay.

"Please don't! I'll think of something" he tried, but she ignored him, pushing him away and forcing herself up and standing for the first time in... as long as she could remember. She managed to keep her balance for a few seconds, before her left leg gave out and she fell forwards. Akisu caught her easily and helped her stand properly, supporting her gently.

"Stop it" he ordered. "I told you I'd think of something. Trust me."

"You better" she growled, using him for support as she got the feel for her leg. "It's your fault this happened to me. If you had watched where you were falling, I wouldn't have had to do anything stupid like that."

He seemed about to respond, but pulled her closer instead, holding her tightly. She did not bother resisting this time, simply leaning on him for support in silence. The room was still dark as they simply stood like that for a long moment, the silence almost perfect until the door slammed open again, and this time, six jounin filed in, facing them. Her eyes widened in fear and she instinctively tightened her grip on Akisu. But he had no intention on holding her. He shifted, and for a moment she thought he was going to give her to them, but instead, he pushed her behind himself and stood protectively in front of her.

"Akisu-san, please let us take the girl" said the first, a man with brown hair and a bored expression on his face. Akisu shifted again, unsure of what to do.

"Akisu-san" said another in a slightly more serious voice. Akisu's forehead was beaded with sweat, but he held his ground, until two of the jounin suddenly dashed forwards, catching him off guard and slamming him into the wall behind, knocking over much of the equipment as the other four followed suit, grabbing Raine forcefully. She tried to struggle away, until one of them managed to hit her side, and she went limp in shock from the pain that erupted from her wounds.

They moved quickly, fastening rope around her neck and feet, and tying her wrists together. After she thought she wouldn't even be able to move anymore, they topped it off by forcefully tying a thick strip of black cloth around her eyes, cutting off her vision completely. She could hear Akisu trying to say something, but someone was apperently stifling his shouts as the person leading her tugged hard on the rope around her neck, leading her off without her being able to see the path she was taking.

She followed slowly, struggling to stay upright and fight off the effects of shock whilst stumbling after the jounin who was leading her. Her mind was numb, and after a few minutes of walking, she fell into a type of trance. Her feet began to move normally and her head was hung, her mind thinking of nothing as she blindly follewed the one leading her. She vaguely noted the change of texture in the surface on which she walked, from smooth hospital hallway to rough, dirt path, and she blankly wondered where they were taking her. "Public execution" did not sound to be the most pleasant death, but before that would come the questions.

The man tugged harder an her ropes and she was forced to keep pace by speeding up, stumbling only once before setting the new pace. She wondered absent-mindedly if Akisu would be alright, but brushed the thought from her mind. _He is in no danger of loosing his life_, she thought numbly. _I am._

"Raine-san" said the man in front of her in an overly-polite voice. "The Godaime will ask you a few questions. They will ask you only once. If you refuse to respond, they will sentence you and kill you without hesitation."

Her dull blue eyes hardened under the blindfold as he began to slow. She would say nothing. She felt herself beng lifted by a number of hands after they had untied her wrists, but they were only to be tied again on either side of her, along with her feet below her. The hands fell away and she remained supported by something she could not see, until one more pair of hands removed the blindfold, and she found herself several feet above the ground, strapped to a cross. There were many shinobi around her, and the Five Kage's before her, along with a single, dark figure to her left who was sporting a giant blade that seemed so heavy he had to rest it on the ground. The ground, she thought, looking down at it. It was already stained with blood. She was not the only one who had been sentence to death here.

Around her were the many shinobi, and as she looked closer, she noticed they were not all Leaf-nin. There were Sand-nin and Mist-nin, along with several Cloud-nin and even a few Stone-nin, all organized carefully on either side of the Five Kage's and in an almost full circle around her. She felt the other part of her personality kicking in, and she lowered her head, her dull blue eyes flaring up to glare out from behind her black veil of hair. She was glaring directly at the Raikage, and it even seemed to play some part in unnerving him slightly, as he blinked several times and dropped his gaze. But her side suddenly gave a particulary large twinge, and she squeezed her eyes shut, letting her body go limp as her head dropped. She did not want to watch her own death.

"Uzamaki Raine" said the fifth Hokage. She had not heard her last name for years, and had almost forgotten she shared it with her half brother, Naruto. It sounded foreign.

"Please answer these questions respectfully. Should you choose to remain silent, we will not hesitate to execute you" she continued. Raine remained silent as they began to question.

"What is Akatsuki's objective" asked one of the Kage's. She did not recognize the voice at all, having never heard it before. She remained silent.

"Answer, Raine" warned another. Her eyes opened again in order for her to glare at the speaker, which was the Raikage this time.

"You really want to know..." she asked queitly. There was a moment of silence, and she knew they were suprised. They had not expected her to say anything. "If you really want to know, then I can tell you. But you will get nothing else from me. Is this what you want me to answer"

The Kage's remained in silence for a few more moments. She was telling the truth- she would tell them what Akatsuki's objective was, but after that she would say nothing. "Tell us this and we will end your life quickly" said the Mizukage slowly. She grinned and lifted her head slightly.

"They'll kill you all" she said, turning her gaze to the Raikage. She could instantly tell he recognized those words. "I told you before, old man, and I was telling the truth."

"But why would they attempt to kill the Godaime" he asked.

"Have you not done the math..." she asked mockingly. "There are nine Akatsuki. There are nine shinobi countries on this continent. The Leaf, Cloud, Mist, Stone, Sand, Rain, grass, Waterfall, and Sound are the nine villages. If they manage to overthrow the nine shinobi countries, this continent will be theirs."

"That's impossible. There is no way they would be able to defeat these countries without armies of shinobi" said the Raikage.

"I'm not lying" she said simply. "I'll even give you more advice. The Fire country should watch out for one of their own, not the Uchiha, but another with the two master bloodlines. The Stone should also beware of their own, the man who houses the spirit of the wolf and fights like an animal. The Wave should watch for the one originally from the Rain, the Vampire. The Wind will fall after the Leaf when the Uchiha arrives there. And finally, the one in charge of killing the Cloud, would be the Aohane. When these five fall, the others stand no chance."

"Is that so..." said the Raikage. He seemed more calm now, and coud look her directly in the eyes. There was a moment of apperent silence as the five Kage's discussed this in whispers, leaving her to guess what was being said. But she did not have long to wait, as they suddenly launched into her sentencing,

"Then, we will get this over with" said the Mizukage, turning to the left where the Hokage stood holding up a large scroll.

"Before you are executed, we will read off your crimes, the reason you are here. Because you are wanted for crimes in every country, we will go one by one, starting with myself, the Godaime Hokage. In the past several years, you have been wanted in the Fire country for the following crimes: high treason on several accounts, armed mugging, arsen, armed burglary, murder and homicides, extortion, torture, coercion, armed assault, attempted murder, attempted assault, attempted kidnapping on several accounts, forgery..."

Raine listened absent-mindedly, not knowing what half of the things she was being charged with actually meant. Most of them had been done during her time in the Akatsuki, the attempted kidnapping of her brother, torture, and forgery of the passes needed to enter the village. But some of the things had been done before she had become a missing-nin. High treason, in other words, selling out her country and the Hokage, had been the main thing. She had been a storehouse of information on every country, and she would give that information away to whom she pleased. Some things on the long list almost made her laugh as she remembered what had happened. Arsen for example. That had been an accident, but it also happened when she was with the Akatsuki. She had accidentally dropped a cigarette in the grass outside of the acadamy, and a few moments later, the whole right wing of the building was up in flames.

The Kage's each took their turns in sentencing her, and she noticed she was guilty for high treason in every country. She snorted lightly, and regretted it instantly as her side erupted in fresh pain, but it would end soon. The last Kage, the Raikage, finally ended with his list of crimes, and the man to her left that carried the giant sword shifted in anticipation, bringing the sword around to his right and resting it on the ground beside him.

"Do you have any last words" asked the Hokage. Raine closed her eyes angrily.

"Fuck you" she growled. She heard the scrape of metal on stone as the executioner lifted the large sword, and the whistle of air over the blade's edge as he brought it around towards her neck. Time seemed to stop.

No really. Time seemed to stop. She opened her eyes to find the blade inches from her neck, the Kage's all staring frozen up at her, the surrounding shinobi not so much as breathing. She opened her eyes fully to see a dull, grey orb hovering before her. _The Time orb...?_ She had never learned how to use it properly._ Then who...?_ She found the answer as he quickly began untying her wrists and ankles, letting her drop to the ground painfully, landing messily.

"Akisu" she said in utter shock. There he was, keeping his promise, standing before her and breathing heavily. But he had no intention of simply standing there.

"Run, now"

"How did you..."

"I've spent the last months learning how to use this orb only for this purpose, but I can only hold it for a minute tops. Run now before it breaks"

She stood without hesitation, catching herself and finding her balance again. She turned quickly towards the village gates and began towards them, passing by Akisu on the way. She paused for only a second to place a light kiss on his cheek, before dashing as fast as her body would allow towards the gates. It felt so odd to be running in a world where time was frozen. There was no sound, and no breeze, and no anything, but she ignored it and broke through the gates into the forest at full run. Her side had re-opened and started to bleed again, but she continued forwards without looking back. After another few moments of dashing, she felt a soft breeze on her face and heard the leaves of the trees rustling. Time had started up again. And she was only a short ways from the village.

As if on que, she could sense the shinobi moving silently towards her in the darkness. She dropped to the ground, trying not to pannic as she looked around. She had no clue which way she was currently facing, but decided that sitting there would only get her caught, so she upped and ran, dashing to the left of the direction she had originally been going.

_Alright, _she thought, thinking back to the time when she had used the forbidden jutsu. She thought hard, dodging absent-mindendly between trees as she scraped the back of her mind for an idea of what exactly had happened._ In my feet and legs are... In my right foot is Air, Gravity and Shadow, in my left there is Earth, Metal and Wood. If I activate the Metal and Gravity, it'll only slow me down. I somehow have to activate the shadow, Wood, Earth and Air... If I can do that, I'll be able to outrun them, even with these wounds..._

She slowly began releasing the chakra she had been building up in the hospital, letting it flow towards her feet and controlling it carefully. She touched on the orbs embedded within her and slowly activated them, careful not to activate the ones that were unneeded. She hadn't expected it to work, but it apperently had, as she felt the breath sucked away from her when she sped forwards, trying to ignore the vivid pain in her side. She nearly closed her eyes just to deal with the pain, but continued plunging through the forests regardless.

After what seemed like hours, the trees around her began to thin, and ahead of her she could see an open space, perhaps a field. But what was scaring her most at the moment was the fact that the sky was getting lighter. She hadn't expected the nights to be so short. But she had not heard her persuers for a long time, so after she had broken out into the clearing, she only continued running for a few moments before slowing and finally stopping, cutting off the flow of chakra to her feet.

She caught her breath and held her left side tightly, wincing as she turned towards the forest where she had come from. She looked to her side where the black t-shirt was soaked through thickly with blood, and when she pulled her hand away, it was red and wet._ Shit_, she thought._ So much blood... _She had not noticed up until now either, but she was still barefoot, and had somehow managed to avoid cutting up the soals of her feet, even at such a high speed. But her body hurt all over, and she felt as if she were going to be sick. It was not only the pain, but something in the air, mixed in with the blood. It smelled like... smelled like... _the ocean._

She finally caught her breath and stood fully, surveying her surroundings. Her head looked slowly to the left, then the right, before suddenly snapping back to the center. That tree had just moved. As if to mock her, shadows began filing out of the forest, breaking cover and charging directly at her. She felt a jolt go through her body, and nearly turned to run, but froze in disbelieving shock at what she saw heading at her, slightly apart from the shinobi, the shinobi who had apperently also just noticed. There were eight of them, in black and red trenchcoats, heading directly for her.

She needed no second prompting. She was off as fast as she could run, forcing the chakra to her feet and stumbling once before regaining her balance and taking off across the field, glancing behind her. The eight Akatsuki seemed to not care about the shinobi beside them, but were heading at her with killing intenet. In another situation, she would have gone willingly to them, but she caught the look in Kariudo's eyes, and knew he did not want to save her. They were all after her to kill, not to help her.

But as she continued to look over her shoulder, she saw Shirotaka fall onto all fours like an animal, and break away from the group, charging her with speed to match her own. She turned away from them and forced her body to it's limit, but it was no use. Shirotaka was upon her in a matter of moments, pouncing like a giant cat and taking her down easily by sinking his teeth, which were fangs at the moment, into her right arm. What do they want with me? she thought, giving a short cry as she hit the ground and tumbled severaly times. But this time... this time she would not be taken so easily.

As Kariudo himself descended on her, she suddenly spun away, Shirotaka's fangs slicing down her right arm before he sunk them deeper at the elbow.

"Let go, dog" she growled. She spun away, giving a particulary hard tug. For a moment she thought her arm would be ripped off, but she managed to pull it from his jaws a second before Kariudo grabbed her. She was off again without hesitation, this time formulating a new plan. Her arms were useless, her right one at least as seriously damaged as her left arm, and both heavily bleeding, but she would not give up. She would not be killed here.

The fabric of the black t-shirt buldged between her shoulders, and suddenly ripped as two dark blue wings spread from them, rising high above her head before coming down hard, the feathers billowing as they caught the air and lifted her into the air just as Shirotaka's wolf-like muzzle snapped inches from her left foot. She did not bother gaining much more altitude, but concentrated instead on flying as quickly as she could towards the far-off light. Ahead of her she could see a vast, dark blue surface that stretched as far as she could see. The ocean. Something that they could not follow her over if she flew over it.

The sun suddenly fully broke over the horizen, blinding her for a few seconds as it reflected off the surface of the ocean, but she continued on, beating her wings hard until she was over the dark blue water. She refused to look down, and refused to look back to her persuers. If she fell it would be over, she didn't know how to swim. She just hoped there would be somewhere to rest shortly. If she was forced to fly over this for too long, she would die either from exaughstion, drowning or bloodloss. But she brushed the thoughts from her mind. At least she was away from the Akatsuki, from the villages, from everything that had ever caused her pain. She was free. At least for awhile.


	15. Chapter 15

_Up, down, up, down, up, down..._ Raine was breathing heavily, keeping a slow, steady beat with her wings. She had been flying for hours, and had still not come across any land. But that wasn't the only bad news. From around two hours ago, the sky had clouded over with light grey clouds and the temperature had dropped dramatically. It was so cold, that she had been suprised a few moments ago to find that the tips of her wings were frozen, the feathers stuck together by thin peices of ice. She had recently given up on trying to clear the ice from her wingtips, but by now, it was prooving to be more of a problem than she had first expected. Her wings felt heavy and unbalanced, although it could have been from the exaughstion as well, and her flight was irregular and mothlike.

_Dammit_, she thought, clenching her teeth. Her left hand was clutching her right arm and trying to staunch the flow of blood, but it was futile. It had not even slowed in the slightest. If she continued bleeding this much, she would surely die. It was just a matter of when. If she were to turn back now, there would be no chance she could make it back to the main continent, but if she continued forwards, there was a slight chance that she could find land before she could no longer go on.

But that time came sooner than she had hoped. For a few seconds, her wings seized up from exaughstion and from the cold, and she plummetted a few feet before catching herself and gliding for a few moments. _Dammit, _she thought again, grinding her teeth hard. She could do nothing. She had to land soon, or plummet into the ocean... _The ocean! _She looked below her for the first time in hours, and noticed the ocean was completely white. Not completely, but made up of floating peices of ice.

Without a second thought of what would happen after, she angled her wings and began heading towards the ice flows. She was vaguely aware of herself speeding up and almost plumetting towards the ice flow she was aiming for, but when she tried to pull away, she was simply too exaughsted. She felt weak from hunger and bloodloss as well, and it did not help her in the control of her wings, which required alot of energy and chakra to use. The ground came up fast, and she somehow managed to land on the ice flow she had aimed for, skidding on her right side painfully and rolling several times before falling still on her left side. It was snowing lightly.

_I'll just rest for awhile_, she thought numbly, letting her body go limp on the ice and breathing heavily. She sat there for a few moments before she could no longer hold the wings, and they vanished, leaving her to shiver in the ice and snow. The snow under her was slowly bleeding into a deep red that seeped out around her mockingly. Her arms were useless, she could not move them. When she tried to stand after a few moments, she found the rest of her body the same- frozen and numb. At least there was only a little pain, compared to the phenomenal amount she had been put through in the past day. She sighed, her body sagging further as she simply gave in to the temptation of sleep. She knew she would probably not wake up, but she simply no longer cared. There was no resisting once her eyes slipped shut.

_So warm_, she thought, relaxing. Her body was numb and she could feel the snow piling up slowly on top of her. She did not know how long she lay there for, minutes, hours, but just as she thought she could finally get to sleep, she heard a far-off rumbling. It was heading in her direction as well, getting steadily louder. She tried to open her eyes to see what was coming, but they were frozen shut, so she simply lay there until the rumbling grew to its loudest, stopping suddenly. She listened as intently as her numb mind would allow, but could only hear the whistling of the snow across the ice she was on.

_Crunch... _Her ears twitched slightly at the new noise._ Crunch, crunch, crunch..._ Silence. She suddenly felt hands on her side, examining her wounds, and she tried to open her eyes. No use. There were no voices, but the hands suddenly stopped and she could hear whoever it was shifting. They threw a blanket over her body and she felt the hands again, lifting her gently from the ice and cradling her for a moment, perhaps examining her, before moving again.

After a few moments of moving, she fetl the temperature change dramatically, and she was passed to another pair of hands in silence. She was inside of something. And that something was moving, making a loud crunching and grinding noise. Whoever was carrying her went down a flight of stairs, and she could sudenly sense a number of other people around her, but there were no voices, just complete, utter silence. But the voices came eventually, although she could not pick out what they were saying. They were whispering so quietly, she did not know how they could understand eachother. She was placed on something, a table or bed or something else flat, and she slowly felt the warmth returning from her body. But with the warmth came pain. Blinding, vivid, screaming pain that threatened to overthrow her mind. She had not expected it to be like that, since the times before had not been nearly as painful, but the pain seemed to have tripled at least. She moaned, her face contorting in pain and the hands suddenly left her body. She relaxed for a few moments, but the pain hit again, and she nearly screamed in agony, her throat tightening in shock.

But the hands came back again, holding her still and trying to calm her down. They were cold on her arms, as if she were burning up, despite the fact she had been laying on ice for God knows how long. She slowly relaxed, breathing heavily and letting her mind slip several notches, her conciousness slipping slightly. There were now only two pairs of hands tending to her wounds, removing her shirt and leaving her nearly naked. But she didn't care. It hurt to much to care. She simply let the hands deal with the wounds on her arms. They touced on her right arm and that was all it took for her mind to completely slip, and she fell away into blackness again.

* * *

When Raine finally stirred after what seemed an eternity, she found herself in a small, warm room. She was in a small bed, on the lower bunk, with several blankets piled on top of her. Her dull blue eyes moved slowly to take in her surroundings. The room was made from unpainted wood, and there was a large heater in one corner, but other than that and the bed, there was not much in here. She nearly jumped when a man's face appeared from above, poking over the edge of the top bunk and staring down at her in silence for a few moments.

He had black, silky hair that curled under his chin slightly, and had bizzarre red eyes. Where the white of his eye should have been, it was red, and it gave the impression that his eyes were bleeding because of the pure red colour. He stared down at her for a few moments, before flipping over the edge of the bunk and landing beside her bed. She noticed, for the first time, who it had been to save her. This man wore a forhead protector with a small, neat crescent shape engraved in the center of the plate. Moon-nin.

She sat in silence, waiting for him to say something, but he did not. She had noticed before that these people seemed to be unnaturally quiet, but this was a bit too much. He was simply standing there, staring at her with those odd red eyes. So she decided to speak first.

"Where is this?" she asked quietly. Her voice was dry and scratchy, but at least it worked. He suddenly bent close and pressed a hand over her mouth, holding his other hand to his mouth and placing a finger in front of it, telling her to be quiet. She narrowed her eyes as he pulled away, heading to the door and looking out for a few moments. When he pulled his head back in, he closed the door silently and crouched beside her bed again.

"Speak only in whispers," he said. His voice was so quiet, she almost didn't hear him. "Speaking is forbidden."

"For-" she began. But she lowered her voice to a whisper as quiet as his own. "Forbidden? Where is this?"

"You are on a ship, headed for Tsukigakure, the Hidden Moon," he explained. He folded his arms on the bed and rested his chin on it. He was young, no older than she was, and it showed.

"The Moon...?" _Great, _she thought, closing her eyes for a few moments before opening them again.

"My name is Akuma Isamu, special Jounin, leader of Anbu Squad one," he whispered as if he had repeated it many times before. She looked him over intently_. This runt is the leader of an Anbu squad? And a special Jounin? You've gotta be kidding_, she thought. But there was some kind of calmness that eminated from him, a cold aura that seemed to relax her.

"Uzumaki Raine," she said simply. He nodded.

"I already know. We saw you flying over the ocean and recognized you as the demon from the war that fought with the Higure boy. You're pretty strong. But you'll never be able to use those arms properly again."

"Wh-what?" she said, sitting up suddenly. She pulled her arms from under the covers with much difficulty, vaguely noting she was not wearing a shirt. She was completely bandaged though, and nothing was visible, so she ignored it and looked to her arms. The bandages were only slightly stained with blood, and it appeared as if the wounds had been well-treated, but they felt heavy and numb.

"Get up," said Isamu, standing. "I'll show you around."

"I can't stand," she said, moving her legs. Her left leg was still heavy and would not respong properly.

"You have legs, don't you?"

She looked up into his odd red eyes almost angrily, and he stared down at her emotionlessly, before shifting again and sitting on the floor.

"As long as you have legs, you can move forwards," he said, rolling up his pant legs. Her eyes widened as she looked upon his legs. They were not flesh, but metal, mechanical apendages. "You should be satisfied with what you have now."

She stared for a few more moments, until he stood again, and she turned back to her own body, pulling her legs over the side of the bed and touching them lightly on the warm floor. Isamu removed his black jacket and draped it over her shoulders as she stood shakily, using the bedposts for support.

"Here," he said, supporting her with one arm. She let go of the post and used him for support as he led her towards the door.

"Don't speak at all. It is forbidden here. Let me speak for you," he instructed. She nodded and he opened to door, leading her out into a hall and turning left. He helped her with some difficulty up the stairs to the deck, and she felt the cold breeze on her face again. They were on a ship that was cutting it's own path through the iceflows. The souce of the incessant grinding noise was the ship's front cutting through the ice and pushing it to either side. There were other Moon-nin here, apperently they had been returning from the war, and they were all going about their business in complete silence. Not one word spoken.

She and Isamu caught the attention of a group of Moon-nin, and they approached silently, looking her over before doing something strange. They began using their hands, making signals as if using an odd type of sign-language. Isamu responded with only one hand, singing a few things quickly, and it was met with nods from the others. He led her past them and took her to the edge of the deck, for her to look out across the icy ocean.

The ice was not nearly as thick as it had been where she had landed, but it was still coating the ocean in giant, floating plates. The sky was a pale, grey-blue, with few clouds and a bright, white sun to her left, slightly above the horizon. She was about to ask where the Moon was exactly, but remembered that speaking was not allowed, and bit back her words. The ship was huge, perhaps not gigantic, but it was larger than any she had seen, built from metal plates, and with two decks above, and at least two floors below.

After a few moments of staring out at the ocean, Isamu led her to the rest of the ship, showing her the first decks. But she paid little attention to that. She had found something more interesting. As she looked from person to person, she noticed things about them that seemed odd. They all shared the same black, glossy hair and calm exterior, but she could sense a deep, dangerous demon sleeping within each of them, as if they were born to fight, born for war. That was not all though. She saw it first on another man, noticing his left arm was not flesh, but mechanical. After seeing that, she noticed it everywhere. Fake arms, fake legs, fake hands, even a fake eye on one man. Everyone on the ship had some part of their body replaced with a mechanical appendage. These people were much more advanced than the people on the main continent.

After a long time of wandering, she got the feel for her feet, and no longer needed Isamu for support, so she spent the rest of the time following close behind him. After another half hour, he led her back down to the room they had come from, closing the door behind him. She sat back on the bed, pulling his jacket around her closely. Her arms felt so heavy.

"You saw all of them?" he asked quietly. "Did you notice?"

"Yeah," she said. "Why are they all like that?"

He strode over to the bed and sat beside her, flopping back onto the bed. "The Moon is nothing like the villages you are used to. We think differently. We are the soldiers for a country called the country of Silence, a village called the Moon."

"But why are they all like that? What happened to your own body?" she whispered, trying to keep her voice as quiet as his.

"Nothing happened to me. I told you, we are very different from the villages and countries you are used to. There are some things that are better than your villages, and many that are worse. The Moon is a village that lives for war. We have tests of endurance, and becoming a Moon-nin requires you to have this done to your body."

"What do you mean?"

"You can become a gennin without doing this, but to become a chuunin, there is no exam. It is a test of pain endurance. Hours in the hospital with no anesthetic where they replace your most prized body parts with mechanical versions that are supposed to enhance your performance. As a gennin, I was the fastest in my class, faster than any other. One day, they took me aside and asked if I would like to become a chuunin. I did not know what it required, because as gennin you are not told, so I accepted. They took me into an operating room and strapped me down. Before I could ask, they had taken my legs and replaced them with these."

"Why? Just to make you better soldiers?" she asked. She would have been more suprised, had she not heard of this kind of thing before. her own mother had done thins that were not much different to human beings like this, enhancing them and experimenting. Isamu nodded.

"I thought I would warn you."

"Wh-what...?" she stammered, suddenly paling.

"You owe the Tsukikage for saving you. He could have just let the ship pass and leave you to die out on the iceflows, but he took you in. You owe him, you're in debt to him. And repaying that debt will most likely require you to become a Moon-nin. I suggest you get rid of those arms, they're useless."

She could tell by the way he spoke that he had lived a hard life. All of the Moon-nin had. He said things that were dead serious in such a light way, as if it was normal for things to be like this. But she did not want to think about that right now. She did not want to go through more pain.

"Don't worry," he said, as if trying to comfort her. "If you blackout during the operation, they'll still continue. In fact, you're lucky if you blackout."

"Not helping," she said in a particulary quiet voice. She pulled her legs up and flopped back as well, curling up on top of the covers.

"We will be arriving in the Moon soon. Get ready to move again," he said, standing from the bed. He reached up to the bunk above and pulled himself up, leaving her to herself on the bottom bunk again.

She sighed, wincing as she let her arms rest beside her. These people seemed not to fear her, despite the fact that she was the Aohane's capsule. But she knew why. Just by being around them, she could tell they were strong, powerful. The Aohane would be no match for a village of them. They had nothing to fear. And it appeared as if they feared nothing. They were the perfect weapons_. But why would they come to the aide of Orochimaru?_

She lay awake for another hour or so, thinking about what was to happen to her now. This feeling was getting old, as if she were just being passed from one person or place to another. She did not know what the Moon would do to her, but when she thought about it her mind somehow slipped back to what Isamu had said. "I thought I should warn you." She did not know why the Tsukikage would want her to fight for him. She snapped out of her thoughts as the ship rocked several times, and began slowing, before stopping completely.

Isamu flipped down from the bunk above again and stood looking down at her with his odd red eyes. She pushed herself up in silence, and he pulled her off the bed as if he were impatient, moving her quickly towards the door and back out onto the deck. He led her quickly between the throngs of shinobi, taking her towards a ramp where they were unloading boxes and other supplies. It was then that she first set eyes on the Moon.

The ramp led to a wide dock, which led to a beach on a frozen peice of land. The Hidden Moon was at the edge of a snow-covered forest, at the end of a large path. It was surrounded by short, sturdy-looking walls, and was mode up of many, delicate-looking buildings, built in a way she had never seen before. As she looked closer, she noticed the excruciating amount of detail put into the stone walls and buildings. They had designs carved into them depicting gods and demons, and things she had never seen or heard of before. The fact that it was topped with a foot of snow only served to deepen the beauty, but Isamu led her away from it, down the ramp where he stopped and led her aside, making sure no one was looking.

"Sit here and wait for me to finish unloading. Do not say anything to anyone. I am your escort, and you are to see the Tsukikage immediately after this. Understand?" he asked in his dead-serious, quiet voice. She nodded in silence and moved over to a larger rock on the frozen beach, leaning against it and wincing as her side throbbed. She pulled Isamu's jacket around her closely in an attempt to warm herself, but it did not help, since she was still barefoot.

Before Isamu left to unload, he pulled his shirt off messily, tossing it onto the rock beside her and heading over to the ramp, where several of the other men had removed their shirts as well. Some of them sported artificial arms that were clearly visible now, but she wasn't looking at that. Her eyes had followed Isamu as he began passing supplies down from the large ship.

He had a large tattoo of a crescent moon with an orb between the two points and the surface covered in intricate designs. It was done in black ink, with the curling designs done carefully in a pale, red ink that was barely visible. But what caught her eye more were the two, long scars that ran across his lower back in an "x", just below the tattoo of the crescent moon. They looked as if they had been from a whip or some other thing that had struck him repeatedly, although they had long healed over.

After watching Isamu work for awhile, she began to look at the lifestyle of these people. There seemed to be little or no humour in their lives, as they seemed to rarely smile, but she found something else that interested her. Where on the ship speaking had been forbidden, it seemed as if it were allowed on shore to a certain extent. The shinobi unloading the ship would shout short commands down at eachother every few moments, and there were a few resting groups speaking in whipers as well. Or perhaps it was only forbidden on the ship. She slid slowly to the ground, letting her heavy arms fall to the side as she huddled up in another attempt to conserve heat.

After what seemed like forever, she spotted Isamu heading slowly back towards her. Unlike the other men, all of which seemed bigger and more well-muscled than him, he was not so much as sweating. He did not look like he had just shifted dozens of heavy crates. And he still omitted that calm, serious aura, which was shown in his unchanging expression.

"Get up," he ordered emotionlessly, grabbing his black t-shirt and replacing it quickly. When she failed to respond fast enough for his liking, he grabbed her arm and pulled her up. Her arm gave a sharp twinge and she gave a short cry that caused him to immediatly release her.

"Itai," she muttered, squeezing her eyes shut for a few moments. When she opened them, she found Isamu staring down at her with the first emotion on his face she had seen yet- shock.

"Go-gomene," he muttered, re-composing himself and bending over again. He gently helped her off the ground, supporting her carefully. She narrowed her eyes in confusion. _What's up with this guy?_ she thought, taking a few more steps as he led her up the path. Isamu had taken on his normal stoic expression again, and seemed to be paying no attention to her whatsoever.

It took longer than she had expected to reach the village gates, but they made it eventually, and she entered, noticing something else different about the place. Where in the Cloud and Leaf there might have been a few guards, here was very different. They had six guards on either side, in full shinobi uniforms, each carrying a large, thin katana and wearing masks that were complately white with thin slits for their eyes. As she passed slowly by them in silence, she thought they might have passed for statues at first glance.

"Hurry up," ordered Isamu, forcing her to move faster. "They need to close the gates."

She quickened her pace and turned her head to look behind her slightly. She had not noticed what the gates had looked like before, and looking upon them now she did not know why they needed to be so excessively... defensive. The bottom edge had several large spikes pointed towards the earth and the door itself was several feet thick. It was built like a porticullis, hanging above the path, ready to drop. Just as she was about to turn back to the path, the door gave a grinding screech and the door fell earthwards, hitting the ground withincredible force and nearly knocking her off her feet. _Geez, _she thought, truning back to the path and letting Isamu guide her through the town.

"I will take you to the Tsukikage first, he will decide what to do with you. Do not bother trying to run- Moon-nin are no match for you or the Aohane," said Isamu, leading her down the oddly silent streets.

She sighed and lowered her head. She had thought no less. The Aohane would do nothing to these shinobi. And her own body was already in a bad state. She wouldn't be able to fight properly if she needed to, and if something came up, she'd end up dead before she'd escape. That was the reality, and there was nothing she could do about it.

Isamu tightened his grip and forced her to move faster, turning down another street suddenly, and she finally snapped out of her trance, wondering why they were moving with such urgency. The scenery had changed, there were people here. Her eyes widened as she saw them for the first time. She caught a flash of blood red from a dark alley, and spotted another pair of glowing red orbs. One came into what was left of the daylight, and she was shocked to see him. He had glossy black hair that was the exact same shade as Isamu's, and his eyes were completely red, no white whatsoever. They were all over the place, lurking in the shadows and watching in silence as Isamu guided her though the streets. Just watching. Not Isamu, but her.

"Do not look them in the eye," whispered Isamu, trying to force her to speed up. "They might still attack you even though I'm escorting you. If that happens, I can do nothing. Do not look them in the eye."

For some reason, she felt deeply disturbed with these people watching her. Staring at her. Just staring. Without so much as blinking. Just. Staring. She dropped her head as she met another pair of blood red eyes, looking to her feet. But she did not manage to keep her eyes away for long. There was a short cry that was quickly muffled, and her ears twitched in response, her head automatically spinning to her left, and looking past Isamu. There were two men there who were not staring at her, the reason being they were already occupied. There was a woman backed up against the wall of the alleyway, her skin pale and her eyes wide. One of the men had his hand pressed over her mouth, preventing her from screaming as he reached up to the collar of her shirt and... her eyes widened in horror and she tore them away, staring wide-eyed at the ground. This place... It was unnatural. Her heartbeat had sped up and she could feel her forehead lightly beaded in sweat. She would have began moving faster had she been able to, but her body was exaughsted.

"That is why it's not safe for women to move around on their own here," said Isamu as if nothing had happened. She was beginning to get frustrated with this man. He took everything so lightly, in the exact same tone of voice, as if it were the most natural thing on earth for these things to be happening like this. But she let her eyes slide to her left to look up at his face. His eyes were unfocussed, not staring at the ground or the path ahead of him. It was as if he were attempting to fight off some urge inside of him. She noticed for the first time how sad he looked. Depressed. His hair seemed to continue falling into his blood red eyes, the ebony strands obscuring his eyes for most of the time. There was definitely something wrong with him. Something wrong with this entire village. It just... wasn't right.

When she snapped out of her daze again, she found herself staring up at a large building built from an odd white stone she had never seen before. It could have even been called a palace. The walls seemed to be made from ivory itself and into them were carved pictures of things she could not quite make out. Writing as well was visible along the edges, and every few feet, dotted in a complicated pattern over the face of the building, were holsters for torches or lights, some filled, others empty.

Isamu released her for a moment and reached behind him, detaching something white and pulling it out, holding it in front of him. It was a white, pocelain mask, the same type the guards had worn at the entrance to the village. It was a simply mask with no blemishes on its smooth, glossy surface, and the only breakage in the perfect surface being two, small slits for eyes. He did not so much as glance at her before pulling it over his face and smoothing his hair back, before silently leading her into the white building.

If the exterior had been intriguing, the inside shouted only one word- gothic. It was such a dramatic change in lighting that her only guidance for a few moments was Isamu's arm pulling her into the darkness. Her eyes adjusted slowly, until she could vaguely see where she was headed. The walls were close on either side and the ceiling was high. There was a strange light, more of a glow, that she could not quite pinpoint the origins of. It was a dark red colour and it seemed to be doing more to impair her vision than improve it. But Isamu continued forwards at the exact same pace, forcing her further and further into the darkness.

The walls broke out on either side, opening out into a larg cavern. Above was the source of the red light in the form of a giant red orb hanging from the center of the ceiling. It was enough light to illuminate the white chalk circle on the floor below, which, to her suprise, was the exact same as the tattoo on Isamu's back. A crescent moon with an orb between the two points, intricate designs criss-srossing the moon design. Many people stood around the crescent, all dressed in complete black and wearing the same porcelain white masks. They did not shift at all as they entered, and as Isamu led her slowly into their midst towards a figure at the far end. The figure wore a dark red cloak and a mask of silver, metal. He was standing in the center of the chalk design of the orb between the two points of the crescent, and she assumed him to be the Tsukikage.

Isamu stopped a few feet before the Tsukikage and bowed slightly, getting a slight nod in return before silence. Raine waited, forcing herself to breathe as silently as possible as she waited for someone to say something. When it came, she had not expected it, and she nearly cried out in suprise.

'Arigatou, Isamu-san.' The voice seemed to explode into her mind, and she jerked back in suprise. She could tell the Tsukikage was the one speaking, but he had not moved at all, and the noise had not come from him.

'What are we to do with the foreign girl?' came another voice, one of the people standing around her. 'Will she be killed?'

'No, Katashi, we will not kill her. That would waste our time. The main continent has already refused to pay her ransom, they think we've killed her. It would be no use to kill her now. We'd be better to use her,' came the Tsukikage's voice in her mind. It was unnerving. _What is up ith this village? _she thought in horror.

'There is nothing 'up' with our village, girl. You'd be best to keep your thoughts to yourself,' came another voice almost angrily.

'Perhaps she could be trained as a replacement for Nanashi-san,' came another man's voice. She felt Isamu bristle uncomfortably beside her.

'Perhaps that could be done. What do you say to that, Isamu-san?' asked the Tsukikage, shifting slightly to fully view Isamu.

'...If it is your wish, there is nothing I can do about it.' She blinked a few times, as if hearing Isamu's voice in her mind varified that she was, indeed, hearing the voices of those around her.

'...Then we will see how things turn out. Tsukigakure cannot operate unless we have the two Tokubetsu Jounin controlling the anbu squads, and after your partner died things had fallen out of place slightly.'

'It is because the Lunar sickness has increased tenfold in the last three years. The strains are evolving and adapting, becoming resistant to our vaccines. More and more are affected every month.'

'The sickness is minor for the meantime. Those affected by it can still fight as Isamu has prooved. The ones that wander the streets are empty shells of those too fargone to return to reality. They dwelt on dreams for too long and became mindless animals. They are no longer human.'

_Lunar sickness...? _she thought before she could stop herself.

'Yes, girl. You will be exposed to it soon enough,' came one's voice.

'Isamu, take her away from here and bring her back when she has healed properly. You should acquaint her with the village. She is used to an easier life, so introduce it slowly.'

'Hai, Tsukikage-sama,' came Isamu's voice. He bowed once and supported Raine again, tearing her eyes away from the red-cloaked Kage, leading her back the way they had come and back through the tunnel. She walked slowly, as he was no longer rushing her, lost in thought and confusion as she tried to decipher the Tsukikage's words. This village was completely different from any she had ever been in before.

By the time they finally reached the entrance and stepped into the fresh air again, it was night. There was a thin layer of clouds in the sky, but where the moon hung, a thin crescent in the sky, the clouds seemed to have dissappated, leaving it fully exposed. They suddenly stopped moving on the steps of the white building and she turned to Isamu to see what he was doing.

His blood red eyes were turned towards the moon, half-lidded as if he were off in his own world, glowing red through the white mask. They looked almost content for once. But no... as she looked deeper into his eyes, she could tell he was still the same, depressed and alone. He simply stood for a few minutes, lost in the crescent moon. The light bouced off the white mask in an odd way, and his whole body seemed to be tensed, leaning towards the moon, but he finally broke the trance, turning to Raine after what seemed hours.

"I will take you to my house. The hospital is... not a good place for someone like you to go. Tomorrow I will be gone on a mission, perhaps for the next few days. When I return, I'll show you the true face of the Moon."

She simply stared at him for a moment as he removed his mask and began moving again, leading her in a new direction. There was a sick feeling in her stomach, and her head seemed to be foggy and unclear. This place was not right at all. There was something deeply disturbing about it, and she wasn't sure she wanted to know what it was. The people were all so distant, and the ones that were like Isamu, with red eyes and that odd, cold aura, they seemed to have a strong affect on her. They frightened her. It took alot to scare her, but simply looking into Isamu's eyes she could tell there was something not right, something unnatural about him. She had a bad feeling about this place.

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_A/N: Sorry it took so long to up the next chapter... I have up to chapter 18 on my computer, it's just that I've been busy with school and writing for my account on Fictionpress 0.o Hope you still enjoy!_


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